Social & Emotional…what?
Why is everyone talking about the social and emotional well-being of our children? What does it mean and why is it important? First, we use these skills to help connect with others. Second, learning how to understand and manage our emotions and responding to other’s emotions creates a more balanced individual. As adults we’re not perfect, but most of us have learned skills or strategies that we want to instill in our children.
What if we can help our children with recognizing and identifying their own feelings and of those around them?
What if we can improve how we express our feelings in a safe and appropriate way?
What if by understanding our own thoughts and feelings we positively impacted our relationship with others?
As parents we can help with these skills. We can teach our children how to identify our feelings and ways to cope. Typically, when we are happy or excited no one is worried about how we manage our emotions, but what about anger, anxiety, or stress? The more we model and practice ways to cope with feelings in a positive manner, the more we’ll see this growth in our children.
As many of our children have either started their school year or are preparing to return, we must be mindful of one big emotion…anxiety. You may observe tantrums or outbursts which appear to be out of the ordinary. Ultimately, it’s a manifestation of their anxiety and more than likely they are unaware they are feeling this way. The idea of a new schedule, teacher, routine, different friends, etc. can cause significant anxiety for our children.
It’s critical to acknowledge these emotions and help the child walk through how they are feeling. We need to recognize that anxiety may present differently between children and they may not be able to put words to how they are feeling. Acknowledging how they feel and helping them translate into words will help ease their concerns. Avoid telling our children there is nothing to worry about or you will be fine. In reality they will be fine, but consider how you feel when someone tells you the same. Do you feel validated? I am a big supporter of not telling someone how to feel. We need to all be allowed to feel what we are feeling. But then we may need to help process the feelings or unpack why they are feeling this way.
We need to make a commitment to our children and their social and emotional well-being, but also consider how committed you are to your own.
Find more information by checking out the resources below:
Social and Emotional Development
#standreadytosupport