Thoughts for the Week:

Growing is often a slow, invisible process, making children impatient at times that changes aren't happening more quickly. They must sometimes think they'll never be as big as their parents. They can even feel angry about not being able to make the kind of decisions that adults are always making about who's to do what. Feeling angry at an adult who cares for them can be scary for children. They wonder whether that adult might stop loving them if they let that anger out. When we encourage children to talk and play about their anger and their fears, those strong feelings often become more manageable through the talking and playing.

One way to show children that they are growing is to support their day-to-day "inside" growing that is often harder than outside growing to see or measure: learning to share their toys or learning to use words to let people know how they feel. Helping children feel proud about their inside growing can make it easier for them to wait for the time when they will be grownups and will make many decisions for themselves.