"Children"

(A short story about visiting the counselor)

Being a kid isn’t always easy. There are lots of feelings and moods to figure out.

Sometimes you might feel happy or silly or sad, worried, angry, or scared. You might have one feeling or a whole bunch of feelings at the same time!

These feelings might make you want to laugh, cry, or yell really loud! Or you might be mixed up and not know what to do.

Sometimes things happen that can be hard for boys and girls to understand by themselves. Kids might need a special grown up to help them with their feelings.

Kids come to the playroom for special play time with a grown up. This grown up knows a lot about kids and can help them with their worries or scary feelings. Some people call this person a counselor. You can call her by her name.

What happens in the playroom?
In this room you get to choose what to do. You can play with the toys in most of the ways you would like. The grown up will make sure you are safe.

It can be hard to use your words to tell a story or share your feelings. You can use the toys to help.

You can play, talk, laugh, cry, or yell. Doing these things with the special grown up sometimes helps kids feel better.

After a while you may not have as many worries, or maybe they won’t feel so big. Even if you still have some worries, play with the special grown up can help you feel better.

After a while it will be time to stop coming to the playroom. If you need to come back that’s OK, you can tell your teacher or your mom or dad.

You are a very special person, and I’m glad you’ve come to play!

Adapted from The Special Playroom by Jeanie Gilfix and Naomi Heller Kahn