Emotion Commotion

We've had a lot of EMOTIONS going on lately. Maybe it's stress. Maybe it's just too cold to go outside and we're tired of being cooped up inside. I found some cute faces online that express different emotions and we talked about our feelings. Yep. I felt like a total psychiatrist. We talked about good feelings and bad feelings and how bad feelings don't mean we are bad. Then we talked about what we can do when we are feeling angry, stressed, frustrated, nervous, etc.

My children are SO different and have different issues. When Zane gets angry he wants to destroy things so we talked about how to calm down and make better choices. Morgan has trouble with being nervous and letting her fear consume her. So we talked about how to stay calm and worked on some problem-solving skills.

I posted the pictures on my pantry door. Now, the kids can walk to the door and point to the picture that describes how they are feeling. Then we talked about what can be done to help them feel better. They also point out the good feelings. Like, I made brownies and they both walked to the door to point out they felt very happy about that.

Next, we made HAPPY books. We talked about some things that make them feel happy. I helped them write and draw pictures to create little books.

Just having a book that said "By Zane" made this little man happy.
He had pictures of strawberries, bananas, pre-school friends, toys, and Mom.

Morgan loved making her book too and included pictures of favorite clothes, ice cream, swimming, and playing with Ashton.

It's still new and exciting but so far seems to have made a difference in our home. Making the books helped them to focus on the good in their lives. I love when they come and tell me something else they wish they had included in their books. We may have to make more pages soon.

Look for happiness and you will find it.