Hellobee Boards

My son does really well with Daniel Tiger in terms of helping him express his feelings. There was also a recent study that shows that kids who watch Daniel Tiger are more likely to show empathy, social confidence, etc (linked below).

I wouldn't say you necessarily need to watch the show, though. DS is almost 2.5 and really likes the book "How is Daniel Feeling?" We also always use the same phrase - "Take a deep breath and use your words" - whenever he's feeling any emotion he can't seem to verbalize.

I do think deflecting is super normal at this age and I'm sure in her mind she thinks her brother doesn't have expectations because he's a baby and that seems nice.

https://childrenandmediaman.com/2016/06/21/research-shows-preschoolers-who-watch-daniel-tigers-neighborhood-develop-social-and-emotional-skills/

DS (3.5yo) did this when we praised him for something good he did. He would reply with some gibberish phrase like "blahblahblah." At first it used to irritate and confuse me, because I thought he would be happy to be praised. But whenever he does it now, I just say "You must be really proud of yourself" and leave it at that. Sometimes he smiles in return or he will say something back like "I did it!" I think he didn't know how to reply to that "feeling" of being happy or proud at first and maybe needed to hear from me what it was called.

Agreed on Daniel Tiger, I never thought I'd be such a fan of a kids show yet I totally am!

I've noticed a lot of kids struggle with direct praise Ave do better with a very simple acknowledgement and maybe later mentioning "I was thinking about how you did X earlier, I felt really proud of you. How did you feel about it?" Or maybe even leaving out the part about your own feelings. I've found sometimes I've been impressed with my daughter doing something but she won't feel proud or accomplished yet since it didn't meet the picture in her head- like she walked the length of the balance beam but didn't jump off and land on two feet- I may be proud of the walking the length but she's still working on the skill in her mind.

At any rate, we chat a lot about "you seem really upset, are you mad?" Or "when I'm sad, a hug can really help me feel better, would you like a hug?" Etc I feel like these conversations lay a solid foundation for chatting about the bigger stuff too.