Natural Feelings

This book is, intended to be, read with a child or group of children to spark dialogue about anger as a normal emotion experienced by everyone. Anger can be a good thing. It can give you a way to express negative feelings or motivate one to find solutions to problems. This book provides children and adults with a few strategies to cope with challenges and communicate emotions.

Are we Doing Everything To Address Hurt? After a loved one, neighbor, member of the community has died, how do you explain it to the children? What words do you use? What actions are, taken? It is important to have open conversations with children about death in a way that helps them understand it is a part of life and that grief is an emotion experienced by everyone in various ways. This book is, intended to be, read with a child or group of children to facilitate a discussion about death and grief. Grief is not only, experienced, when a loved one dies. It can also be, experienced when someone leaves unexpectedly, when a tragedy occurs in the community, or even when major life changes occur such as a move to another city. Children are resilient. That capacity for resilience is, strengthened when trusted adults are able to communicate honestly, openly and empathetically with children about difficult transitions that occur as a part of life. Grief is not something we get over. It is something we get through.

This book is, intended to be, read with a child or group of children to facilitate a discussion about anxiety. When someone faces potentially harmful or worrying triggers, feelings of anxiety are not only normal, but necessary for survival. Anxieties can occur when thinking about work/school, money, family life, health, and other critical issues that demand a person's attention without the 'fight-or-flight' reaction. The nervous feeling, or butterflies, before an important event, or during a challenging situation is a natural parallel of the original 'fight-or-flight' reaction. Anxiety about being in a car accident, for example, means that a person will instinctively check surroundings to avoid danger. Most children are ready to explore their world. Many children have fears and worries. Strong fears may appear at different times during development. Parents and other adults tend to teach fear; though usually not intentionally, and the fear response in children becomes a learned behavior. Sometimes the world can seem like a scary place. There may be a fear of getting hurt, being left out, or not fitting in. But, what if we could help guide our thoughts toward a more positive outcome? What if we can, teach the children to do, the same? Let's fight these fears together.