No matter what stage of development children are going through, they all experience a variety of emotions and feelings, each in their own way!
Sometimes, these reactions may even seem disproportionate to an adult, but the truth is that the child is feeling “that way at that moment!”
Let's see—when a child falls and cries, we sometimes tend to try to make it go away as quickly as possible and say, “There, it's over! It was hardly anything.”
This statement can be interpreted as belittling or dismissing what the child is feeling, and sometimes it causes more harm than the fall itself!
Empathy and emotional support—which we demand from them in so many other situations—activate areas of the brain linked to emotional regulation and pain relief! Did you know that?
Emotional validation during moments that children find difficult strengthens neural connections in the brain, fostering the development of emotional resilience! That is why it is so important to validate our children’s feelings and emotions.
In this way, we are providing tools so that, whether in these situations or others, people can regulate their emotions more naturally.
