Re the breathing, it was in my head because it's what I ask my daughter to do when she is in the midst of a crying fit. "relax, put your hands together and breathe with me," though it never seems to go that smoothly. Maybe I need a new approach? Thing is, I think I should take my own advice more often and perhaps that's where this poem comes in. As for the sharks, I'm not sure whose job it is to test their hearing, just glad it's not mine. -That said, I'm often shocked by the jobs people have when I meet them.purposefully not look too hard: ouch.
-Yeah, I thought the same thing after I wrote it.
though it never seems to go that smoothly. Maybe I need a new approach?
Maybe. My mother is a child and family therapist and she would say to just empathize and completely accept your daughter's feelings and she will calm herself down. Say, "You're feeling so sad [mad, upset, frustrated] when that happens. You wish ... -- whatever it is she wishes would happen."