Help your child manage their emotions!!!
1. Manage anger: At
bedtime, practice deep breathing techniques with your child. Explain that it will help them calm down and
be ready for sleeping. Ask them to image
a balloon filling with air as they inhale, hold it and breathe out until the
balloon is little again. As your child
becomes familiar with this technique, you can use it with them when they are
angry.
2. Deal with fears: When
your child shares that they are fearful of something, ask them to draw a
picture of it. Once the “scary” picture is
drawn, work with your child to make it silly by adding elements to the picture.
3. Handle guilty feelings: Use a children’s book as a tool to provoke conversation
about topics like telling the truth or being a good friend. You may discover your child has an easier
time sharing and coping with guilt
feelings with this type of approach.
4. Soothe sadness: Make
it a routine to share a time when you were happy and a time you were sad during
the day, at the dinner table. Encourage
your child to do the same. This is a
good practice for your child to share his/her feelings, but also an opportunity
for you to model healthy coping.
From Emotional Rescue by Jeanett Moninger. Parents magazine, August 2012.
