How to Help Kids Handle Emotions

It can seem impossible to help kids handle emotions. As a parent our main job is to teach our kids to lead a happy, healthy and positive life so that they grow up to be a well-rounded member of society. Every parent defines what well-rounded means for their own family unit, but there’s one thing that remains constant across the board for all kids. They need to learn how to handle their emotions. All human beings have an emotional side of their brain which helps to guide us towards feeling connected, or disconnected, to others.

Help Kids Handle Emotions

One fact about emotions is that you won’t be able to keep your kid from feeling emotions. You can guide them to properly handle an emotional response. For example, if your kid is freaking out completely upset and off the wall, you may send them to their room to calm down for a while but they will still feel upset.  It’s okay that your kid feels upset, again we all have a right to feel whatever emotions we have. The problem with this scenario is that your kid is freaking out, possibly endangering themselves and others all the while feeling upset. The response from an emotion is what parents need to work on guiding kids to handle.

The number one way parents can help kids handle emotions is to exhibit proper emotional responses themselves.  Kids will learn first and foremost from their parents, so if kids are being raised by hot tempered parents, the kids will ultimately have their own hot temper. This is a matter of fact in regards to all family units. If you are a parent who suffers from anger problems, it’s best that you get that under control before you attempt to guide your child to handle emotions properly. 

After you have worked to establish your own proper emotional responses and have your emotions under control, you may set the pavement for assisting in teaching your kids how to handle their own emotions.  Allow your household to be open and honest when it comes to feelings, let your kids express through words how they are feeling. Accept how your kids are feeling by responding that you can understand why they are feeling this way, but here’s why you need to do what was asked about you. Using your words in a compassionate yet firm way can really guide your kid to see the light regarding proper emotional responses.

Affirming that emotions are okay, that your child can feel whatever they feel in any moment while still guiding them towards proper responses to parents as well as elders will assist in naturally teaching your kids to handle their emotions without much effort from the parental unit.