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When I cry… My Ebook about emotions
I’m slowly getting used to the rain that keeps on falling, thinking that summer seems to be over. However, I still have a little doubt and I tell myself that the sun will come back when everyone goes back to work! Lately, I started creating a very simple format of stories to share them and also to improve my storytelling and illustration skills. Often, these stories are inspired by my daily life and topics that I find important regarding child development. This first story is simply based on my experiences. When I don’t feel well, I feel even worse if people ask me too many questions. So, perhaps I’m still at the same stage of development as children… If you have any comments or story ideas, I would be really happy to hear them.
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How to react when you’re child is in an emotional tornado?
Emotions are always a big struggle for children (and for adults too by the way). That’s why I wanted to create a simple tool to help them navigate and understand the “main” emotions. My first observation is that it can be so frustrating for a child to feel all these big emotions without being able to understand or put words on them. So they explode in their way, it can be shouting, crying, hurting, kicking everything… And as adults, as we don’t react like that anymore (just sometimes) we are always surprised by the intensity of this volcano of emotions. We have a giant fire in front of us, so our first reaction is simple: we want to throw water on top of it and stop it. So we ask a lot of questions to understand, and we even say “Stop!” or other reactions that feel natural for us. But you know what, I think you already know that it’s not helping. It even does the opposite. So what should we do? My answer is super hyper-simple: Nothing! Yes, nothing. For at least 15 to 30 seconds, do nothing. Just be there, with your child if you are allowed to. And breathe. Stay calm, it will not last. I said if you are allowed because some kids need their own space such as my youngest who prefers going into her bedroom to calm down when she’s upset) After that, your child is still in this big emotional tornado but it’s slowly cooling down, and now she/he can hear you. That was not the case before. Now, you can help him/her to understand the emotion by By doing these simple things, you are helping your children to understand what they feel and to know that it’s normal. So the next time,…
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The struggles of my expat life
Today, I wanted to share with you some thoughts of mine about my life as an Expat. Being an Expat is such a delicious and also terrible experience. Once you have left your own country, you kind of lose your identity. I don’t see myself as a Dane but the strange thing is that I don’t see myself as a French anymore too. When I travel back to France, I can feel that it’s not working and I miss Denmark, which is my country now. But I love being in France, hearing French everywhere, and being able to understand everything. We have the same code, the same kind of humor, the same references. And it’s so comfortable. I love to write but it has been difficult to rely on a specific language lately. Sometimes, I only want to jump back into my mother tongue. But the thing is being an expat makes it difficult for me. I feel that I don’t have a comfort zone anymore. I think in English, I think in Danish, I think in French and I mix every language without knowing which one I’m using. This summer it will be seven years since we decided to move to Denmark. I love this beautiful country, the way of life, and all the beautiful opportunities we have here as a family. But I will never be one of them, neither will I be one of the French any more. I’m somewhere in the middle, flying without any roots in the ground. But what I’ve discovered is that now, my roots are inside of me, they are everywhere, as I am.
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My children’s book about food “I want to eat”
It all started with small sketches as a joke, and I thought it would be an excellent idea for a little flap book. Funnily, I really enjoyed exploring different foods and their possible reactions. Always with that paper doll aspect that I love so much, I decided to make the objects manipulable so that the child could not only read the book but also play with it for real. The reactions from the children were truly adorable, and I loved seeing them constantly playing with this little character. What I wanted to create for this project was not only a book but an experience. And it worked so well. The children were asking about this little boy as a toy, and they enjoyed playing with the ingredients and their reactions. Actually, they played a lot with it and it’s still a hit! And they also talk about food and the possible reactions in our bodies. I wish I could find an easy solution to print this one and share it with more children.
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A little trip to London
Hi! 💕 How are you doing so far? I wanted to share some pictures of my last trip to London. I drew a big backpack for the occasion and wanted to write a story about this magical girl.✨ As you can see, she has a very big backpack and she carries all her magical potions and materials with her. For the moment, I only have a few pictures, and I don’t know if I will use them. But I still love this idea, so I will write it down, and when this idea’s time comes, I’ll be ready! 💕 I met very nice people when I took my pictures, and sharing this passion with others was delightful. I want to change my camera 📸 but don’t know yet which one to choose. Too many choices 😅 Do you have an excellent camera to recommend?
