86. Helping Our 5yr Old Navigate Being Made Fun Of By Reminding Her of Her Identity

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Whether it’s falling off their bike, a sporting accident, or too much rough housing with siblings, as parents we hate to see when our kids get hurt. When it’s a physical injury the next action steps and questions to ask are a little obvious. How bad is it? Is something broken? Is there blood? Do we need a Doctor? Etc. However, when our kids get their feelings hurt, what to do next isn’t always as clear…</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Welcome back to another episode of The Family Brand Podcast! Recently, our 5-year-old daughter Indie came to us because a little boy at the park said something that had her questioning her identity. In passing, the boy said </span> <strong>“You’re weird”</strong> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">and then proceeded to laugh and walk away. If you know our Indie girl, you know that she lives life at 100% and she feels every emotion. When she is happy, she is overjoyed. When she is sad, she is down in the dumps. When she is having fun, she is the life of the party and everyone is having fun. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In the same way, if her feelings are hurt, she feels every part of that emotion. Of course, Chris’ natural reaction was to figure out where the kid lived and we could go talk to (or beat up lol) the little boy's Dad. Like most moments in parenting, your first reaction may not be the best. After our daughter opened up about what happened and how she felt, we knew we had an opportunity to redefine those words and help her see her true identity. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hit play to hear the practical questions we asked her, how we took a negative moment and turned it into a family memory of love and support, how we got her siblings involved, and more importantly how we have created a culture where our kids feel like they can talk to us about anything. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After our conversation and family time, Indie said that the next time she sees that little