Oleh_Slobodeniuk/iStock(NEW YORK) — Esther Sowerby, who has worked with children for 20 years in many roles including as a teacher and day care operator, wrote a post from a child’s point of view about how stress, especially during the busy holidays, can affect children.From her post: “You’ve probably let me eat more sugar than usual — I’m bound to have higher highs and lower lows. In the holidays I’m out of routine — I can cope better with transitions when I know exactly what’s coming next, so please explain our plans for the day clearly to me. The anticipation of Christmas can be pretty overwhelming and exhausting. Help me to rest by keeping to my normal bedtimes.”Sowerby told Good Morning America that her experience working with children has helped her understand what they go through from their point of view.”I’ve been following Suzanne Zeedyk, who is a professor at the University of Dundee, Scotland, who is really helping us in the U.K. see that all behavior is communication,” she said. “Rather than talk about misbehavior, which makes us want to use punishment, she says we should be talking about distressed behavior. That language shift makes us ask why children are upset and what they need.”Her post has been shared 50K times.The mom of two told Good Morning America that her now-viral post about the holiday season from a kid’s point of view “kept me awake.””I have had so many positive comments agreeing with the sentiment and thanking me for articulating the voice of the child,” Sowerby told GMA. “I was also surprised at how many people said it upset them. I think, deep down, we can all remember the feelings we had as a child of it all becoming too much and the grown-ups not understanding us.”Copyright © 2019, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
