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I often see and hear “They had a meltdown over nothing!” Or “My child has been crying for 20 minutes, I’ve no idea why”. ⠀⠀ Sometimes the child may not even know why - they are probably experiencing emotions they don’t understand and are really not liking the way it makes their body feel. ⠀⠀ Other times it’s over the colour of their socks, the wrong hat or you put the seatbelt on the wrong way. ⠀⠀ As frustrating as it can be for us adults please understand this - it’s real. ⠀⠀ It seems silly to us but not to them. ⠀⠀ All these small experiences give them opportunities to ‘feel’ - to learn how to cope and strategise. ⠀⠀ Treat these seemingly insignificant issues with empathy and respect because some day those ‘silly things’ become bigger things, and you want them to know that how they feel has always mattered to you. ⠀⠀ That you’re a safe place to go to. ⠀⠀ That you always try to understand. ⠀⠀ That they have permission to be them, say whatever it is that’s making them upset/angry/frustrated/worried because you never dismiss what they say as being unworthy of your time and patience. ⠀⠀ The world is a very different place from the one most of us grew up in; children have less of the independent experiences we had as young children and more pressure than ever before. That comes at a cost - let’s play our part by teaching them it’s OK not be OK by how we act and not just by what we say.