How To Check In With Your Kids

Hi, Sam here. In this exercise, I'm going to lead you in a reflection and guided journaling practice that you can do with your entire family. It's designed to help everyone reflect on how they feel and what they need when difficult emotions arise. So let's get started. And I recommend doing this activity when you have some downtime, so when everyone's relatively calm and at ease. So have you ever read the care instructions for your clothing or items in your home? Wouldn't it be great if we all came into the world with our own set of written care instructions? Well, the good news is that we can create our own care instructions right now based on what we most need when we experience difficult moments. We're going to think about times that you've felt different, difficult emotions. Each emotion is expressed uniquely by each family member, and everyone needs something a little different to feel better. We'll then reflect on what actions and words feel supportive. We'll consider what actions you take when experiencing these emotions. Maybe you prefer to have company, be distracted, or have alone time. Maybe the emotion is energizing, so you need to exercise or move your body in some way. We'll also consider what reassuring words you most want to hear in these moments. So let's dive in, and remember to take your time reflecting. Feel free to pause at any time and come back to it. As I guide you, you may wish to close your eyes as you reflect. If you'd like, you can do this practice alone first and then invite other family members to participate with you. You can also use this as a guide for starting a conversation around feelings with your family. If you have small children, you can ask them to talk about what tends to bring up each distinct emotion, what it feels like, and then what helps them to feel better. But let's start with ourselves. So the first emotion we'll explore is sadness. So see if you can bring to mind a moment when you experienced sadness recently. I know it might not be the most pleasant thing to think about, but we're just dipping our toes into the emotion in order to remember what soothes and reassures us. And now consider what you needed or what your instinct was in that moment. Did you need a hug? Did you wanna be alone? Maybe you felt the urge to reach out to a friend. And see if you can imagine yourself naming the emotion in that moment just by saying, "This is sadness," and then offering yourself some words of compassion, like, "I see you and I'm here," "You're not alone," and, "Everyone feels sad sometimes." Practicing compassion helps us to release judgment and shame around this feeling. And now feel free to pause and write down anything that comes to mind around what you need when you're feeling sad. You may...