Recently, a seven year old told me she was having a bad day. It is quite a while, (decades in fact) since I was seven, and while my memory of that time is a little blurred, I am confident that telling an adult I had a bad day was highly unlikely. 

Fortunately, we live in a time when children are encouraged to express their feelings. When children share such moments about their day, it is a great opportunity for the significant adults to seize the moment. 

On further investigation, the seven-year-old revealed she missed out on being first in the line. While not a substantial problem for most, it was, nevertheless significant for Miss Seven. The teachable moment was for me - finding the right balance between acknowledging the child’s feelings and helping her to see the size of the problem.

As adults, it can be endearing to find young children imitating our words and actions, so it is important that the words and actions we model are positive. 

The Resilience Project, a current school initiative, has a strong focus on emotional literacy. The lessons and activities are designed to develop gratitude, empathy and mindfulness. It is however, in our daily interactions with children, that we can best model and help children to cultivate positive emotion. There are going to be bad days, fortunately, good days outweigh the bad.

I hope the approaching holidays might provide you with some great teachable moments for your child to recognise and treasure the many good days!

God bless,

Geraldine