It’s one of the weird ironies of life that our feelings are often at their biggest when we’re at our smallest. Sure, grown-ups have been known to have the odd tantrum as well, and they can be pretty scary — as in incidents of road rage, for example, where drivers have pent up feelings of frustration they can’t overcome.
It’s all about managing emotions. Toddlers generally haven’t picked up the skills to manage the feelings they’re just starting to even recognize, which is why they have those outbursts.
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Grown-ups and toddlers alike might have something to learn about managing their big feelings from one six-year-old who’s become a viral star.
A proud mom just couldn’t help showing off a bit after she caught her son being a good big brother on video.
Ashely West, a mom of three, posted on Twitter after her son Noah, 6, intervened before his 4-year-old brother Cory could have a full-on meltdown and she managed to get the adorable exchange on video.
Even though he’s only 6, Noah’s already a pro.
When the tears were about to start, he grabbed Cory’s attention and then showed him how to calm himself down, modeling the technique with his hands and telling his brother to “breathe” — and breathing along with him.
With a reassuring pat of encouragement thrown in, it’s hard to ask for a more perfect example of self-calming.
Ashley wrote on Twitter that she didn’t even manage to get the whole exchange on video.
Cory was primed for a meltdown by a video game that was out of power and needed to charge, she explained : “…he wanted to play the Nintendo — if you have kids or have been around any you know they think it’s fully charged after being plugged for only a millisecond… anyway it wasn’t and he started having a little meltdown til big bro intervened.”
Now, Noah’s not exactly a natural at this stuff.
But he comes by it honestly — his mom is studying to become a social worker, so this sort of emotional work is right up her alley.
Ashley also added that she works on this sort of stuff with her boys and that it’s been a process.
Seems like she’s doing a great job, and a whole lot of people agree, as her video has racked up more than 650,000 likes and almost 100,000 retweets so far.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
h/t: Twitter | @Ashleyoutloud
