About a week ago, I walked into 3 yo's room to start the morning, and immediately she said to me, "Mommy - a frog slept next to my doll house all night! Then I woke up in the morning and it ran across my room and went back to its home." She seemed out of breath in telling me this story. I still don't know whether it was some sort of dream that she thought really happened or if she was applying her active imagination very early in the morning.
I responded with a similar level of excitement in my voice and said, "Wow, that must have been scary!"
She then looked at me very confused. "No Mommy, it was fun. The frog thinks my room is comfy too and it kept me company when I was sleeping."
"Oh, okay," I responded.
Ten minutes later, we went into 2 yo's room to say "Good morning," and 3 yo immediately reported, "A frog slept in my room last night! Right next to my dollhouse! It was sooooo scary!!!"
I've learned that sometimes it can be helpful to label a child's emotion for them, because they might not always know the words to use. Sometimes, however, I need to watch that I don't mislabel an emotion and create a negative association that wasn't there in the first place.
No comments:
Post a Comment