Hello and welcome!
Shelly Mermaid here.
I want to tell you a story today about Little Lily and her broken seashell toy.
Before I begin,
Let's get into our comfy seated position.
Sit somewhere quiet and comfortable with your back straight and your legs crossed.
If for some reason you can't sit up straight or cross your legs,
That's okay too.
Sit however you feel comfortable.
Okay,
Are you ready?
Okay,
Let's get ready to listen by taking a deep breath in and then letting it all the way out.
One more time in and out.
Wonderful.
Okay,
Now carefully close your eyes and follow along as I tell you a story.
My friend Little Lily is a mermaid like me.
She loves to swim and explore and to play with her friends.
She's a very young mermaid and is always learning new things.
Little Lily had a very favorite toy.
It was a gift for her birthday.
The toy was a beautiful shell.
It was a conch shell,
Which means that when she blew in one end of the shell,
It made a loud horn sound.
It was decorated with sparkles and pearls and was a beautiful light purple color.
It was her favorite toy in the whole wide world.
One day she was playing with her friend Finn the Merman.
He's a kid too.
He asked Little Lily to show him her favorite toy.
She brought out the big sparkly shell and told him that it was special because it made noise.
Let's practice blowing into the shell like Little Lily and use our imagination,
Okay?
So follow along and do what she does.
Little Lily took a deep breath in.
Let's do it together.
And blew all of her air out into the shell.
Blew your air out.
Good job.
The shell made a loud noise.
Finn said,
Whoa,
That's so cool.
Can I try?
Lily handed him the shell and he took a big breath in.
You do it too.
And let it out.
Big breath.
All the way out.
The shell made a huge wah sound.
Suddenly,
Finn accidentally dropped the shell.
The noise had startled him.
When it landed on a hard rock on the seafloor,
Something terrible happened.
It broke in two.
The beautiful seashell was completely ruined.
Oh no,
They both cried.
Little Lily burst into tears.
Her most precious gift she'd ever owned was broken forever.
Finn felt terrible.
He wanted to cry too.
I'm so sorry,
Lily,
He said.
It was an accident.
What could they do with these feelings of sadness?
What would you do if you were this sad?
Little Lily remembered something her friend Prince Davide Dolphin had taught her about sadness.
It's okay to be sad.
And it's okay to cry.
She saw Finn holding back his tears and sobbed.
It's okay to cry Finn.
This is very sad.
He nodded and tears fell down his face and mixed with the salty ocean water.
They held hands and cried together.
Hearing the commotion,
Paula Estrella came over to see what had happened.
When she realized everyone was crying.
She got very uncomfortable.
Stop crying,
She begged.
I don't like it when others cry.
Little Lily remembered something else that Davide Dolphin told her.
Not everyone knows that it's healthy to cry.
Some people will tell you not to cry when you're sad.
Feeling sad is always okay.
Little Lily said to Paula Star,
Paula,
We are feeling our emotions right now.
We will stop crying when we're ready.
Paula said,
But crying and being sad isn't helpful.
Your toy is broken.
There's nothing you can do.
Crying doesn't help.
Finn sniffed and said,
Well,
Actually,
You know what?
I'm feeling better.
I had pain in my heart and in my belly from my sadness.
Somehow,
When I was crying,
I could feel the pain in my body slowly melting away like an ice cube.
I let out the pain when I cried.
I'm still so sad,
But I think that crying helped me feel better.
Paula Estrella thought for a moment.
Then she said,
Well,
I'm glad that crying helps you then.
Do you know what I do when I'm sad that helps me?
Little Lily and Finn shook their heads and asked what it was.
Paula said,
Do it with me.
I take a deep breath in.
Then I let it out all the way.
Finn said,
Lily,
That's like what we did with your shell.
Lily immediately felt better.
She realized that one reason she loved her shell toy so much was that she always felt happy whenever she blew the horn.
Lily said,
Paula,
Do you think that breathing deeply like this can help make us feel good just like it did when I blew my horn?
Paula said,
Well,
It's always what I do when I'm sad,
And it helps a lot.
Breathing deeply and letting myself feel sad is the best way for me to accept the things I cannot change.
Should we do it together three more times?
Finn and Lily nodded.
Okay,
Ready?
Take a deep breath in and out.
Great job.
Feel the sadness as you breathe in and let the sadness out.
One more time in and out.
Paula asked,
How do you feel,
Little Lily?
Little Lily thought for a moment,
Saw her broken toy,
And her eyes welled with tears again.
Well,
She said honestly,
I still feel very sad,
But I feel like it's okay to be sad and to let it out.
The crying helps a lot.
But you know,
Your deep breaths really help too.
I think I'm gonna have to take deep breaths every time I think of my special toy now because it will help balance my sadness.
Me too,
Said Finn,
Looking miserable.
You know what else helps me feel better when I'm sad?
Little Lily remembered.
No,
What?
Finn and Paula asked.
A big hug.
They all gave each other a big group hug.
Let's hug ourselves now.
So we can join in.
Stretch your arms way out wide.
And now hug yourself by crossing your arms in front of you and squeezing your own shoulders.
Keep hugging yourself and take a deep breath in and let it out.
Hug,
Hug,
Hug,
Hug,
Hug.
Good job.
You can relax your arms to your sides now.
Wow,
I forgot how even hugging myself can help make me feel better.
If there's nobody around who can hug us when we're sad,
Hugging ourselves works too.
Wow.
I feel great.
I know that Little Lily is going to be sad about her toy for a while.
But I think she has a lot of healthy ways of navigating her emotions.
And now you do too.
Thanks so much for listening to my story today.
Keep your eyes closed a tiny bit longer.
Put your arms out wide and take a deep breath in reaching your arms to the sky.
And as you breathe out,
Put your arms back down.
Good job.
Slowly open your eyes when you're ready.
That's the end of our story time.
I had such a nice time learning about emotions with you today.
See you next time.
