{"id":548,"date":"2015-02-01T16:37:15","date_gmt":"2015-02-01T16:37:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/?p=548"},"modified":"2015-02-01T16:37:15","modified_gmt":"2015-02-01T16:37:15","slug":"encouraging-your-kids-to-express-their-emotions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/parentingonpurpose\/2015\/02\/encouraging-your-kids-to-express-their-emotions.html","title":{"rendered":"Encouraging Your Kids To Express Their Emotions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bigstock<\/a>
Bigstock Photos<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Happy people are so much fun to be around and most people can tend to feel pressured to be happy all the time. Or at least, they want to appear happy. They may even divide their emotions into two camps; the positive emotions and the negative ones.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually natural for you to want to be in a good mood all the time. It just feels better and is the way to have more positive experiences in your life, but being happy every moment of every day isn\u2019t realistic or possible.<\/p>\n

Even though you know on an intellectual level that this isn\u2019t possible, you may still try to suppress your feelings to protect your child\u2019s sense of wellbeing. Kids will always sense this and know if your being truthful with them.<\/p>\n

This can set up conflicting emotions in your kids because they\u2019re very sensitive to your energy. Have you ever noticed this when you tell them you\u2019re feeling good and you aren\u2019t?They hear the words proclaiming that everything\u2019s fine, but they feel the energy that clearly tells them it isn\u2019t. This conflict can ultimately lead your kids to distrust their their own Internal Guidance System (IGS)because on this gut level they know the truth but are being told otherwise. Sharing what you\u2019re authentically feeling will help your kids feel the consistency with their IGS.<\/p>\n

Being authentic helps teach your children to be authentic. If you pretend that you\u2019re happy all the time and have a smile on your face no matter how you\u2019re feeling, you\u2019re not being true to yourself or anyone else around you.<\/p>\n

Let your kids know that everyone experiences a range of emotions and that it\u2019s okay to feel and express them. This includes negative emotions like anger or sadness.<\/p>\n

This doesn\u2019t mean you want to teach them to wallow in their sadness and it doesn\u2019t mean anyone wants to listen to constant temper tantrums.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important that kids understand that it\u2019s healthy to express their emotions so they can get it out of their system and work on feeling better again. When you try to bury your feelings, it\u2019s literally like putting sand on top of them. You can\u2019t bury a feeling forever. Unexpressed emotions will always surface over time. It takes energy to hold negative emotion in and when you do this, it\u2019s really difficult to let positive energy in or out.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s always a positive spin on how to look at things, even your negative emotions. The good thing about feeling bad is that it helps you identify and clarify what you want. Being able to identify what feels bad is actually a good thing. You don\u2019t have to linger on the bad feeling, but you can notice it and figure out what you need to do to feel better and restore your wellbeing.<\/p>\n

Feeling and expressing all emotion is an important facet of life to teach your children so they can learn to express their authentic selves.<\/p>\n

Please feel free to comment.
\n\u00a9 2015. Sharon Ballantine. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy people are so much fun to be around and most people can tend to feel pressured to be happy all the time. Or at least, they want to appear happy. They may even divide their emotions into two camps; the positive emotions and the negative ones. 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