Expressing Emotions

This is a tough one for toddlers, and Clayton has thrown his fair share of temper tantrums to be sure! Of course as he learns to express his emotions in a healthy way the tantrums will decrease, so we do try to help him identify and name his emotions as much as we can. Sad, for example; we have talked about certain scenes in a movie being sad, and when Clayton is having a hard time and we think he is sad we try our best to explain the word "sad" and how to handle it properly. Well, Clayton took a huge step today that makes me so proud of him that he is learning this concept and can apply it! After saying goodbye to Daddy after lunch, the boys were at our big living room window watching him drive away, Clayton, without any sort of prompting from me says "That's sad, daddy drive away. Go to work, in car, that sad." He was very calm, he just sounded sad, and he came and asked me for a kiss. We talked about how it was OK to be sad when daddy leaves and I thanked him for telling me and asking nicely for a kiss to help him feel better. He then happily went about his 2.5 year old business. This is the first time he has ever spontaneously named an emotion he felt. As heartbreaking as it must be for Daddy that Clayton is sad when he leaves, it is still a proud moment that Clayton can express it in such a healthy way.

Here are the boys last night watching Daddy mow the lawn from our big living room window. They love to look out this window!