4 Steps for dealing with Sadness

Felix is sad because his best friend is moving away. He’s having a hard time understanding why his friend had to move. He needs to find ways to deal with his sadness.

Sadness can be a hard thing to deal with for children – especially when it’s sadness due to experiencing loss. It’s important to find ways to help our children cope with sadness. Here are a few ways:

1. Listen. As parents, listening to our children is one of the best ways to helping them cope with their sadness. Allowing them to express their feelings and to talk through what is really bothering them proves to be an effective way to them come to terms with the current circumstances. This allows the child to feel a sense of control because someone is truly listening to them.

2. Express your own feelings. Talking about your own feelings with your child allows them to see that they are not alone and that their own feelings are normal. Relating to your child’s feelings and sharing ways that you deal with those feelings helps the child to deal with their own feelings as well. It is important to be a good role model in dealing with your own feelings so your child will have a better sense of dealing with their own feelings, such as sadness.

3. Encourage your child to express their feelings in creative ways. Things such as art, writing, and poetry etc. are creative ways for your children to express their feelings especially through sad times. For example, if they are old enough, encourage them to write down their feelings in a journal. Explain to them that the journal is much like a sponge that soaks up all the sad feelings and that writing their feelings down allows them to not be bothered by those feelings any more.

4. Develop plans. Having a plan during difficult times gives not only you a peace of mind but your child as well. Your child will feel at ease knowing that there are precautions taken, especially in case of natural disasters. In the midst of sadness, develop a constructive way to act out these feelings for pretend play can be a great nurturer for children.

Felix feels much better now that his parents have listened to him, and they have thought of a great way to stay in touch with his best friend, even when he moves away. Felix is going to write to him and send him pictures of his adventures in the mail. Felix is happy knowing that even though his friend is moving away, they can stay in touch.

Felix Has Feelings is a website devoted to teaching kids about their emotions and how to control them. Like anger, jealousy, sadness, joy, curiosity, loneliness, excited, and being scared. Please visit http://www.felixhasfeelings.com/ to learn more.

Kids Happy Apps is a place where parents can learn about happiness for their kids though the latest research in Positive Psychology. They even develop apps to promote happiness and wellbeing in children.

Would you like to know the 3 Secret Ideas to Raising Happy Kids. Click here to find out more.