MASK The Magazine – August 2019

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K

ids are pressured, stressed and challenged by the ever-

changing landscape they navigate in today’s world. As

parents, we do our best to teach them right from wrong,

give them the consequences resulting from their choices,

and love them through the storms they encounter.

Parenting in itself is a full-time, overtime job. If we miss

teaching our kids the emotional side of preparing for

life, then we are missing a very crucial piece in the

parenting puzzle.

It’s important for us to help our children identify

feelings. Not just happy, sad or mad, but a more in-depth

understanding of what they are feeling and why. From there, we

can help them label it, own it and feel it, so they can deal with

what they are facing. 

Incorporate emotional elements into conversations and role-

play scenarios with them by asking, “How do you think you would

feel if this or that happened to you?” or “What would you feel like

during, what would you feel like after, and how would you process

your feelings and emotions through it?” By attaching feelings to

situations and consequences, we can help strengthen what we are

trying to teach them, while preparing them to emotionally deal

with what comes their way.

In today’s rapid-speed, instant gratification world, our kids

are more emotionally, mentally and physically at risk. So it’s more

important than ever to check in with them, validate what they are

feeling, and provide them with tools to handle and process their

feelings and choices, especially when they make mistakes.

Mistakes can be used as teachable moments, but there could

be a time when we react in ways that may cause more damage

than the actual “mistake” they made.

So what does that mean for us as parents? It’s not easy, but it

means we have to first learn how to identify and handle our own

emotions so we can model healthy and productive expression of

feelings. When we can do this, as well as model healthy living, we

are teaching and preparing our children for the challenges and

choices they will inevitably face.

Kimberly Cabral

Founder / Publisher

MASK

PUBLISHER’S LETTER

FEEL SO THEY CAN DEAL