Think about a time as an adult when you were upset and someone told you to relax or calm down. Did it help? I would bet, probably not. So why do we expect that’ll it will help children. So often we will say to a child, “You’re ok” when clearly they are not. I know from experience, that saying this came from a place of wanting to reassure the child that they are in a safe space but really what we are doing is confusing them about their emotions and sending a message to stop crying. It’s ok to not be ok. In this episode we take a look at 5 things to say instead of “You’re OK.” to help validate children’s feelings and help them self regulate.