⬅︎ Parenting Tips

💡 Teach your child to “pause and name” their emotions before reacting—it’s like pressing the brakes before a sharp turn.

✅ Benefits of Emotion-Naming

• Helps kids stay calm in stressful situations

• Reduces impulsive behavior and emotional outbursts

• Encourages emotional vocabulary and self-awareness

• Improves communication with peers and adults

• Builds long-term resilience and empathy

🧠 What Research Says

Emotions are fast—like, lightning-fast. Our brains often react before we even know what hit us. This is especially true for kids, whose impulse control (courtesy of the prefrontal cortex) is still under construction.

Teaching children to pause and name what they’re feeling—“I feel scared,” “I feel jealous,” “I feel left out”—activates the part of the brain responsible for thinking, not just reacting. It’s like giving their emotions a seatbelt. Once they name it, they can navigate it.

This small moment of awareness interrupts the emotional flood. It also creates a habit of mindfulness, helping kids reflect before they react. Over time, kids become more in control of their responses—leading to fewer meltdowns, better relationships, and a stronger sense of self.

Bonus? It helps parents too. When your child says, “I’m feeling nervous,” instead of having a meltdown in aisle 4 of the supermarket, that’s a win for everyone—including the poor cashier.

📖 A Parenting Anecdote

In a cozy apartment in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar, Rhea was finishing up her tea when she heard the thud. Then the wail.

Five-year-old Ishan had just lost a tower of blocks to his toddler sister, who was gleefully chewing on one of the fallen pieces. He looked ready to explode.

Rhea rushed in. “Whoa, pause! Can you tell me what you’re feeling right now?”

“ANGRY!” he shouted.

“Okay. That’s good. Now let’s breathe together and say it slowly: I feel angry because...?”

Ishan huffed. “Because Chhoti broke my building and I worked hard on it.”

Rhea nodded. “That makes sense. Your hard work got smashed, and that feels bad.”

She crouched to his level. “What do you want to do next? Yell? Or maybe tell her with words?”

“I’ll tell her,” Ishan mumbled.

He walked up to his sister—still chewing merrily—and said, “I don’t like when you break my things. Please don’t.”

She blinked, then handed him the slobbery block.

Rhea watched as Ishan began building again. The storm had passed—not because she fixed it for him, but because he had the tools to fix it himself.

💬 Final Thought

Big feelings aren’t bad—they’re just signals. When kids learn to pause and name their emotions, they take the driver’s seat in their emotional journey. And that’s a superpower worth nurturing.

Try this tip today—next time your child is upset, gently say, “Let’s pause. Can we name what you’re feeling?” One small question, one giant leap toward self-awareness.