Alyssa Campbell – How to Manage Tiny Humans with Big Emotions

Alyssa Campbell is a teacher, parent, and an emotional development expert with a masters degree in early childhood education. She is also the author of the book “Tiny Humans, Big Emotions.” In addition to her writing endeavors, Alyssa also runs a business and is a devoted mother to a two and a half-year-old. Her ethos revolves around the importance of building emotional intelligence in children. She believes in recognizing and regulating biases, looking beyond behavior for understanding, and fostering empathy in communication. 

In this episode, Larry Hagner sits down with Alyssa Campbell. They discuss the challenges of balancing motherhood, running a business, and pursuing personal goals. Alyssa Campbell shares her excitement about expecting a baby girl and jokes about potentially having more children depending on their behavior. Larry relates by sharing his experience of having four boys and the reactions he receives from others.

Alyssa Campbell explains that she wrote a book called “Tiny Humans, Big Emotions” because she felt the need for more resources that focused on the adult’s role in emotional intelligence. She found that many existing resources only provided strategies for dealing with children’s behavior, without addressing the adult’s own emotions and reactions.

Building emotional intelligence in kids requires parents to model and teach emotional regulation, empathy, and effective communication. It involves creating a safe and supportive environment where children feel comfortable expressing their emotions and learning healthy ways to manage them. Parents can also encourage their children to identify and label their emotions, validate their feelings, and help them develop problem-solving skills.

Recognizing and regulating our biases is a crucial aspect of building emotional intelligence in both children and adults. This episode sheds light on the biases that often go unnoticed and how they can impact our interactions with children.

Larry’s Takeaways

1. Empathy helps in tantrum situations.
2. Allow children to have hard times.
3. Invest in long-term emotional development.

What You’ll Learn

00:03:21 Build emotional intelligence in kids.

00:05:25 Recognize and regulate your biases.

00:16:17 Look beyond behavior for understanding.

00:20:49 Empathy helps regulate emotions.

00:22:13 Empathy is key in communication.

00:26:42 Connection fosters collaboration and understanding.

00:32:23 Understanding distress vs. dysregulation in children.

00:37:34 Understanding and validating children’s emotions.

00:46:01 Invest in long-term emotional regulation.

00:49:32 Parenting from a place of shame is detrimental.

Links

www.amazon.com/Tiny-Humans-Big-Emotions-Emotionally

www.seedandsew.org