08/17/2026
Feelings are meant to be felt, not fixed. 💛
Did you know that the physical sensation of an emotion can move through the body surprisingly quickly when we allow ourselves to experience it—often around 90 seconds before our thoughts begin adding more to the story?
That’s such an important reminder for us as parents.
When our child is sad, angry, frustrated, disappointed, or scared, our instinct is often to jump in:
“Don’t cry.”
“You’re okay.”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Calm down.”
Or we try to distract, fix, avoid, or control the feeling.
But what if instead, we gave them space to feel their feelings?
We can stay close. We can keep them safe. We can acknowledge what’s happening without trying to make it disappear.
“You’re really disappointed.”
“That was hard.”
“I’m right here.”
Our children don’t need us to rescue them from every uncomfortable emotion. They need opportunities to experience emotions and discover: I can feel this. I can move through it. I can be okay on the other side.
That’s how we build emotional resilience—not by avoiding hard feelings, but by helping children learn that all feelings are safe to feel. 🌿
Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do as parents is simply give the feeling a little room.
