The emotions through the Inside Out movie

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PlayNGrow #CollectiveBias

We live in an age where technology covers many areas and spaces of our lives. Nevertheless, it is wonderful when through a movie we are able to stir our emotions, to ponder, or even to cause changes on ourselves.

I have two wonderful children, who definitely brighten my days. However, in this process and constant learning about parenting, nobody tells you how difficult this work can often be. My oldest son is currently 5 years old, and he impresses me in so many ways, especially me trying to understand “his own times”. It’s not easy, especially when certain day-to-day things or household issues can eventually turn into having a bad time. Someone told me once that 3-years-old was the most difficult age, but I believe that as kids grow up, they start getting more difficult to handle, not in a bad way, but I mean that most children struggle to control their emotions. They frequently find it difficult to understand certain situations that adults consider correct, and then easily ending up in a situation of anger or frustration, and all for not obtaining what they want at that time.

It’s oftentimes a strenuous task trying to achieve the desired harmony, and I happened to have joined this campaign about this brilliant “Inside Out” movie, which comes in handy as several of its characters interpret the emotions experienced by our own children. That is why through the characters from the movie (which I purchased from Toys “R” Us), and together with my husband, we wanted to explain our young son in a didactic and entertaining way about how to manage his own emotions in the most appropriate and beneficial way for himself.

I went to a Toys “R” Us store, where I found a variety of characters from the Inside Out film, in the main section of the store next to the entrance, where they have many sales and also new toys that just came out. There you will find the movie characters (available in different materials), such as Anger, Sadness, Fear, Disgust and Joy.

In addition, you may not want to forget using your Toys “R” Us Rewards Card when buying any of these items, as you may get many benefits with it, especially deals with great discounts that then come home on the mail.

My little son, when he was two-years-old, used to be a good eater, so it was great to give him his meals. But as he grew older, he started getting very picky. Imagine me, that I dedicate my life to cooking, how was it possible that he would turn that way, and from one moment to another he suddenly didn’t like his food and preferred to eat “non-healthy” things, so to speak. It’s been a complicated process, because he’s able to skip a meal, until finally the hunger wins and he ends up eating what I gave him initially. This process wears you out, and that’s why my husband tried to explain him, giving examples of how important the choice of our food is, for energy and good health.

Another character that we found useful was “Anger”, since my son gets too upset when he fails to get what he wants, and many times he gets annoyed by things that are not really worth it. In those situations, he’s able to withdraw into himself, not listening and not paying attention. That is why we explained our son that there are other ways to get what we need, never through anger, as he’ll otherwise not get what he wants. On the contrary, it is also a condition that can lead to saying things one doesn’t really mean, and can unintentionally hurt someone’s feelings. He laughed when we talked, and he liked this character and managed to understand our point.

I think we all liked the “Joy” character, because who doesn’t want to be happy, right? We talked about how nice is to be close to a joyful person, how much we’re able to improve an environment or a situation when we take things with good mood, even when bad things happen. And he understood that his little sister was like that, joyful because of nothing in particular. Our daughter is already 2-years-old, she’s pure laughter, is very friendly, and always makes us laugh with all the things she does, especially to my son.

We also got the other characters from the movie, “Fear” and “Sadness”, but fortunately my little son doesn’t really experience these emotional states much. However, we still explained him that oftentimes fears hold us back, and don’t let us get the courage to do many things. We also told him that it is important to be brave to face all aspects of life, and that way not ending up like this “Fear” character. Finally, dealing with “Sadness” is more complicated. I think we agreed that at times it was OK to experience sadness, but it’s very important not to get stuck to it, otherwise (just like fear) it may limit us to continue moving forward.

I invite you to tell me how you help your children manage their emotions, and how you can find ways to improve teaching how to deal with them.