Safeguarding Your Child’s Mental and Emotional Health

In this day and age our children can easily be exposed to media that can be potentially harmful to their mental and emotional well-being. For a parent nothing could be scarier than to feel like you can’t protect your child from something that could be damaging to them. However, there are definitely things we can do with our kids that can safeguard their mental and emotional health and possibly prevent them from experiencing trouble in the future. Emotional and mental well-being are often only considered or taken seriously during the teen years and they are sometimes neglected altogether. In my opinion, however, it is vitally important that we start to begin the narrative of healthy emotional expression from an early age.

Here are three easily accessible and simple resources you can use which may help socially and emotionally prepare your child for what can sometimes be a very scary world.

1. YOUR Emotions - As your child’s primary caregiver you can have a very positive impact on their mental and emotional well-being. You can model healthy practices when it comes to accepting and processing your emotions. Please DON’T hide your big emotions from your kids. As is age appropriate, calmly express that you are experiencing anger, sadness, loneliness or even depression. Most importantly, though, when you are feeling able, you can talk them through the healthy way that you will process these emotions. For example, you might explain to your child “Mommy is feeling sad today because I miss Grandma. It’s okay to feel sad, but to help me feel better I am going to bake banana bread because Grandma and I always liked to do that together.”

2. Stories - The reason I love this resource when it comes to encouraging healthy emotional processing is because it doesn’t require too much creativity from the parent yet can be extremely effective. You might not always have the emotional energy to share your emotions with your child in a healthy way or perhaps you are just low on physical energy at the end of a long day. Reading books, however, is often quite relaxing and also gives you time to bond with your child as you snuggle together on the couch. Children’s books that encourage healthy emotional processing often teach an important lesson in a fun way and further conversation about the topic usually flows easily after reading. The Once Upon a rhyme books, that are currently available, deal with some pretty serious emotions such as loneliness, anger and discrimination. These books are perfect for children aged 0-8 years old as they are written in fun rhyming stories and are packed full of helpful lessons! - Once Upon a Rhyme Online Store

3. Movement - Our bodies store our emotional energy, whether positive or negative and sometimes the best way to let the negative emotions out is to move! Go to the playground for a run around, do some exercise or put on some music and dance the grief, sadness, or even anger away. Allowing the emotional energy out in a safe and expressive way allows an opening to experience more pleasant emotions like serenity, peace and joy. An example might be that your child has a rough day at school, and you might say “instead of talking about it right now, would you like to dance and get all your frustration out with me?”

There are certainly no guarantees, but teaching your child to understand their emotions and learn how to process them in a healthy way can empower your child as they learn to protect and value their own mental and emotional wellness.

Click Here to Visit Once Upon a Rhyme Online Store!