Navigating tricky situations

Have any of your nanny kids ever said something unkind? This is very developmentally typical and yet can be tricky to navigate. Our friends at Sproutable recently posted a great piece to help get through these situations. With school transitions beginning again, we thought this might be a good time to share this helpful info.

“Sometimes, these big emotions trigger the “fighter” and so they come out words blazing. Then there are the kids that Dr. Becky calls “deeply feeling kids” or DFK’s. The big emotions sit so closely to their vulnerability and shame that the intensity is extreme. They aren’t like other kids, they don’t get over it easier, and they interchange how much they hate you with how much they hate themselves. 

Remembering the complexity of brain and social emotional development is the first step to understanding and not taking it personally. But then what? How do we respond? And how can we support them to teach and guide them so it doesn’t keep happening? Or worse, happen with someone else who won’t be as understanding? What I have learned from over 20 years of helping families and working with students is that kids act very differently to different people.”

Read the full article here