Releasing The Complained Dragon,
Story and illustrations created by Jennifer Gillingham.
That's me.
First,
Our introduction.
In this story,
Timmy will teach us that there's no such thing as a bad emotion.
Sometimes we think there are bad feelings.
And good feelings.
Because we like some of them and dislike others.
Though it may not feel nice,
All emotions and feelings are trying to tell us something.
For instance,
When we feel angry,
Our body and mind may be trying to tell us that something needs to change.
When we feel sad,
Our body and mind may be trying to tell us that we care a lot.
When we feel joyful,
Our body and mind may be telling us that we feel connected to our friends and family.
What we do with our feelings is very important.
We can name the feeling and use strategies that do not hurt ourselves or anyone else.
Let's turn the page to find out what strategies Timmy will use with his dragons.
One morning,
Timmy woke up feeling frustrated.
When he rolled out of bed,
He realized he was not alone.
He had accidentally invited the complained dragon over.
Before Timmy knew it,
The complained dragon had invited his companions,
The fuming mad dragon and the fed-up dragon,
Into his room.
"'This is terrible!
' yelled Fuming Mad Dragon.
His belly rumbled as loudly as his voice.
Do I have to feel the cold floor every day?
" boomed Fed-Up Dragon as he shivered with frustration.
Timmy began to feel like his room was full of chaos.
Loud noises erupted everywhere.
Timmy wasn't sure what to do.
A moment later,
He began yelling,
Stop,
Stop,
Stop.
The dragons began thrashing their tails and their roars became louder.
They could not be pushed out.
So,
Timmy covered his ears to see if that would make him feel better.
The dragons continued to roar and began stomping their feet and shaking the house.
They could not be ignored.
Timmy uncovered his ears and heard the dragons grumble angry words.
He put up a fight by telling them they were wrong and that they needed to calm down.
They continued their angry words and began tearing up his room.
They could not be persuaded.
Feeling tired and upset,
Timmy sat in the middle of his room and listened to the noises.
He saw the chaos around him.
He felt tears in his eyes and knew that it was okay to cry.
He wondered why the dragons had such angry things to say.
Maybe they had an important message.
Or maybe they needed some help.
He decided to listen.
The complained dragon roared,
It's just not fair!
Timmy bravely whispered back,
What's not fair?
The complained dragon continued more gently.
Well,
It was so hard to get out of bed this morning because I'm really tired.
Oh,
Timmy said,
Suddenly feeling empathy for the complained dragon.
I'm sorry you feel so tired right now.
I hope you can get some better sleep tonight.
He gave the dragon a hug.
The complained dragon looked kindly at Timmy,
Said thank you,
And left Timmy's room.
The fuming mad dragon had more to say.
I hate waking up early because my tummy feels sore.
Oh,
Timmy said as he suddenly understood.
It can be hard to wake up early.
How about you have some breakfast?
I have an apple beside my bed for just the occasion.
The fuming mad dragon ate the apple and left Timmy's room.
Finally,
Only the fed-up dragon was in the room.
It's just not fair that my feet are cold every day,
He growled.
It makes my whole body shiver.
Oh,
Timmy said as he pulled out some slippers.
Here you go.
This will warm you up very quickly.
Fed up dragon slid his feet into the slippers and left Timmy's room.
Finally,
His dragons were gone.
Timmy realized that by listening and responding empathetically to his dragons,
He had unknowingly invited in the calm and compassionate lion.
The end.
