Emotional intelligence is a lot like your IQ. There is a spectrum of feelings and no one right answer when learning how to express them. However, there are healthy and unhealthy emotional behaviors. Our children learn from us, and our daughters are particularly intuitive. The way we feel about ourselves will be reflected in their own self-image. How can you teach positive emotional intelligence to your daughters? Let’s look at some of the most common emotions we feel and some healthy ways to handle
them.

Sadness

It’s important that parents themselves understand the difference between sadness and depression and encouraging communication can help children learn how to express their feelings. From a young age, start to teach children common emotion terms, like sad so they can learn to express it. Older children can grasp more complex ideas about sadness. Are they heartbroken? Disappointed. Sadness is a common and even healthy emotion to feel. Make sure your daughters know it’s okay to feel sad
sometimes but they can talk to you about it.

Fear

Childhood fears are common and can occur over almost anything. Some fears seem almost universal for kids, like the fear of the dark. While the instinct of most parents is to comfort their child, there is value in letting your children learn to self-regulate their fears. You can use a variety of resources to help children learn how to calm themselves when they’re afraid. Be sure to reward brave behavior. 

Anxiety

It’s important we also talk about the effects of anxiety on girls starting at a very young age. From generalized anxiety to very specific triggers, some young girls feel anxious even if they can’t express it. Anxiety is treatable, even in children, but the first step is to make her comfortable talking about it. You can start by being willing to talk to your girls about your own worries. Let her know that anxious feelings are common. Just be sure not to express your worries in a way that will cause her to worry for you. 

Grief

Loss can be hard for children, and difficult for parents to learn how to navigate it. You never know when it may hit. When a person passes away, you don’t always get a lot of time to prepare your kids to understand their grieving process, especially when you’re grieving too. The important thing is to tailor the message for their age, how close they were to the person, and their level of curiosity. 

Joy

Sometimes a synonym for happiness, joy is a much more internal feeling at should be encouraged heartily in young girls. Happiness is triggered generally by outside forces. A song may make your child happy. But your child can find joy in their love of music which, in turn, gives them more internal sense of satisfaction. Helping your daughters learn to find and express joy is as important as any other emotion. 

Love

Of course, every child should feel love in their lives and learn how to express it. But there are multiple healthy ways to express love. For example, sharing can be an expression of love. As can helping others. Physical touch, such as a hug, is also a great expression for love, but it’s also important to know boundaries and teach your children healthy boundaries. 

There are other emotions your daughter will be feeling as they grow. Anger, frustration, happiness, infatuation, and more. Communicating with your girls starting at an early age can help them better express and understand their own feelings. Do you want to know more about emotional intelligence and raising daughters? Contact Ladybug for Girls today.