Drawing Feelings

Both my wife and I like to do art. I don’t do it much nowadays, but the interest is still there. It’s only natural that my kids like it as well. They are constantly making art and they are also constantly making “art” (if you know what I mean).

The other day when they were fighting a lot after dinner, I had an epiphany from the Siblings Without Rivalries audiobook I listened to a while ago and to try one of the suggested strategies - drawing feelings. I interrupted them midway through their arguing and suggested that they both go upstairs and draw how they felt about each other. I could see this going very poorly with mean pictures, more screaming, taking things personally, but I wanted to see what would happen. It’s one thing to listen to all of these parenting tips…it’s another to actually apply them to see if it works for each specific family.

To my surprise, my kids actually stopped fighting and I could see humorous grins pop up on their faces. They agreed and ran upstairs laughing. A few minutes later, they came downstairs with crazy faces and zagged scribbles. They said it was how they felt at the moment they were angry, but they weren’t angry anymore and were laughing during the whole drawing portion. It was so great to see this actually work in practice that I let my brother know (and thanked him) for having me listen to that audiobook. I also sent him a video of their drawings and their explanations so he could admire the positive impact he had! It was a good experience and something that I’ll lean on when needed!