Emotional much?

Click here to enter the giveaway until January 31st!

Welcome to Kid Mom Book Club’s very first book pairing! I’ll be sharing a brand new book pairing that I read, one for a mama (or any grown up, really) and a child. Are you an emotional person? Some of you are nodding yes at me, and the others of us are cringing, knowing that emotions and expressing them are not our strong suit. I am raising my hand in admission that I have just described myself in the latter. I have learned and grown over the years, as a teacher and mom, how to be sensitive to the emotions of others when, at times, I feel emotions are a language I am not proficient in. I am continually reminded of this by my son, who is an empath. He feels other people’s emotions as if they are his own. Over Christmas break, we had to turn off the movie, Elf, because he was so embarrassed for Buddy the Elf when he meets his dad for the first time. Buddy is singing a made up song for his dad, who was expecting a singing telegram. Buddy’s song is off key and horrible. My son just couldn’t take how embarrassed Buddy should’ve been, but wasn’t. He crawled up under a blanket and could not stop saying how embarrassing it was because Buddy didn’t even know he should be embarrassed. He was embarrassed for how Buddy should’ve felt. This is the frequent emotional experience of an empath, and I had to think fast about what to do and how to support his emotional sensitivity. In a world where people ignore each other’s emotions, pursue their own agendas, I wanted to foster this emotional sensitivity. Honestly, it took me a minute to get myself together to figure out how to address him. I forget exactly what I said, but I did ask him a few questions to understand what he was experiencing. The next day, I did two things. First, I pulled The Boy with Big, Big Feelings off the bookshelf and read it with my son. It is a beautifully illustrated book with vibrant colors that jump off the page, illustrating different heightened emotions that the main character feels, despite a world around him that doesn’t really get him. His emotions are extra big, just like my son’s. It offered us the opportunity to explore how he felt about sharing his emotions, and if he felt safe sharing his emotions with different people. The second thing I did that next day was buy Emotional Intelligence 2.0, which I’d had in my Amazon cart, waiting to buy. But it was apparent that I needed this book. As a mom, I try to help guide my son to be the best human he can be. In order to do that, I have to build my own emotional skill set if I’m going to be a great mom and help my son navigate a world that might tell him to shut down that emotional sensitivity that lives within his eight year old heart. Dr. Travis Bradberry and Dr. Jean Greaves have written a digestible, helpful and informative book in Emotional Intelligence 2.0. The section on self-awareness strategies was most illuminating, encouraging readers to feel their emotions physically (which I usually avoid), observe the ripple effect from your emotions, and get to know yourself under stress. These pieces of advice were simple, and exactly for me. An interesting quote from page 7 reads, “People with the highest levels of intelligence (IQ) outperform those with average IQs just 20% of the time, while people with average IQ’s outperform those with high IQs 70% of the time.” The reason, you ask? Emotional intelligence is a critical factor. I, for one, want to be a high performing mom and teacher. Hopefully you and your child(ren) join me on this journey of reading and bonding together with rich conversations about this month’s book pairing, The Boy with Big, Big Feelings by Brittany Winn Lee for kids age 3-10, and Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Dr. Travis Bradberry & Dr. Jean Greaves. You can find the books by clicking on the title links to buy on Amazon, shop Barnes and Noble or your local bookseller. Your local library will be able to help you find them or even order them from another library for you. Click here to enter your chance to win both books! The drawing will happen on January 31st, and I will email the winner to request your address to mail you both books. I hope these books bring your family rich conversations as they have for my son and I. Happy reading!