Overstimulation paired with frustration sometimes makes for disaster in sensitive kids. I work as a therapist with kids who struggle in this area. I often find that kids are not aware of their internal experience until they are far past the 'take deep breaths' stage. I show kids a cup and explain that everyone's cup gets filled daily with stressss and frustrations (and I make examples of these things while filling the cup with water). I explain that some people's cups are naturally more "prefilled" than others...so their threshold to overflow is much lower. My challenge to them is to start recognizing when their cup is more than half full and try to empty some of the water then before it feels too late. So we make a plan as to what helps them specifically (getting to a quiet place, putting a frustrating project down, making sure they're not over hungry). I ask the parents to gently name the child's feeling states when they notice them (ie while playing a game: you seem a little frustrated you're not winning). Whether the child agrees or not st the moment doesn't matter. I agree to stay firm on your expectations of their behavior....sometimes kids 'allow'
themselves to not be as emotionally in-control st home. Of course there is
truth in
