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.
My DD is a visual learner... I am soooooo using this. Thanks.
Follow up... I've described this to my DD7, and she has used this concept twice successfully. The big success was Independence Day, when an incident left her with a minor burn and a whole lot of outrage. Once the burn had been seen to and we'd talked a bit about what happened, she declared, "I NEED TO POUR OUT MY CUP!" She picked an activity, and I joined her in channeling that rage at Lego Death Eaters.
Thanks again.
