Why it’s better for my daughter to feel sad than fine

“Inside Out has the potential to change the way parents think about — and talk about — emotions with their kids. As parents, we often try to do whatever we can to keep our kids happy and shield them from feeling sad… Inside Out posits that happiness and sadness may actually go hand in hand. If our kids don’t experience sadness, they won’t know joy… What we as parents don’t talk about with kids sometimes says more than what we do say. When we avoid difficult conversations about things such as race, sex, or emotions, we‘re leaving our little ones to figure out these big, complex issues by themselves. Although we may fear not saying the right thing or “making things worse” by talking about it — as Joy admonishes Sadness — as adults we have much more insight than our kids do. Sometimes just the acknowledgement of a difficult feeling is all that is needed. In my favorite moment in Inside Out, while Joy tried to distract Bing Bong from feeling sad, Sadness sits with him and simply acknowledges his feelings.”

From the article: “Why it’s better for my daughter to feel sad than fine” by: Jane Bahk She wrote a kids’ book about emotions, but Inside Out still taught her a lesson. Follow the above link for the full article.