I’ve been working with kids lately on recognizing their brain and bodies response to WHEN THINGS DONT GO JUST RIGHT. In session I always use a whiteboard and draw a visual schedule. I have been drawing the picture you see marked “2” to prompt discussion around this common phenomenon:

A boy walking down the street happy as a clam with his ice cream. It suddenly falls. This is unexpected and NOT JUST RIGHT. I use this prompt to give kids an example to go off of. Within the last few weeks, I’ve gotten some amazing responses from kids about their own experiences of when things don’t go JUST RIGHT. We draw these situations out, talk about how their brain is wired to expect things to go as planned and how when things do not, their brain struggles to know how to respond appropriately. This allows for both education, processing upsetting events, and also working towards some concrete ways of managing this feeling when it arises in the future. I ask that parents help their children begin to identify examples throughout the week of “When things don’t go JUST RIGHT” and write them down. In doing this, we are helping the child better understand themselves, their triggers, and the thoughts and feelings associated with these triggers. The goal is that with greater awareness, we can help kids to learn to recognize the feeling before it gets too big and too explosive.

Just today, I came across this wonderful Dr. Seuss picture and text and thought it worth sharing:

What a great mantra for all of us.