Emotions, we all have them. It’s part of our human makeup that we feel a myriad of emotions on a daily basis. Anger, fear, embarrassment, sadness, happiness…these are all important feelings, and no matter your age, size, gender, we feel them all. 

Little children though feel them more keenly than adults due to their under-developed brain. I should know, I’m a psychologist by trade, and I have three little human beings.

The key to healthy emotional development is to 

• First, accept and validate their emotion. Never ever deny, nor repress what they are feeling, we are all entitled to feel what we feel. The key is what we DO with these emotions.
• Second, give clear boundaries on what we can/can’t do with these emotions. E.g. “it’s ok to be angry, but not ok to hit me”,
• Third, model your own emotions and tell them what you are feeling and thinking, and how you are behaving. Children should see adults as humans too, and we can get angry/sad, we can do things we don’t want to do. But our emotions can get the better of us!
• Fourth, if indeed something bad has happened because of our big emotions, seek to repair it.

Here are my top picks of books to help children understand, process and learn about emotions (big ones, small ones and everything in between)!