Maya’s Notebook

A note from me

Hi! It’s me, Maya.

You’ve got the whole toolbox now. So from here on, I’m going to tell you about my real weeks — the times Zip showed up and what I actually did. Then you get to tell me yours.

Mad isn’t bad. Mad is information.

This week’s check-in

How big is your mad right now?

Mine’s a 2 today. But you should’ve seen me Tuesday. Tap the number that matches yours.

Pick your number — there’s no wrong one.

This week — My whole story

Tuesday. My little brother knocked over my LEGO tower — the one I’d been building since Saturday. He said it was an accident. Maybe it was.

Here’s what happened in my body: hot hands. Tight jaw. My ears started buzzing. Zip showed up FAST — like a 4.

So I said it, quiet, just to me: Hi Zip. I see you. You can stay, but you don’t get to drive.

Then I peeked under the costume. Under the mad was sad. All that work, gone. And a little bit of hurt, because he didn’t even look sorry.

I wanted to knock over HIS stuff. But feelings are allowed — hurting is not. So I did a Body Shake-Out in the hallway instead. Shook my arms until Zip was a 2.

Then I went back and said: I feel sad when you knock over my tower, because I worked really hard on it.

He helped me rebuild the bottom part. It’s not the same tower. But I didn’t hurt anybody, and I told the truth about my feeling. That’s the whole thing.

Feelings are allowed. Hurting is not.

That’s a whole story: what happened, where I felt it, how big it got, what was hiding under it, and the not-hurting thing I did.

Feeling word of the week

disappointed

Disappointed is when you really wanted something and it didn’t happen — the tower falls, the trip gets cancelled, the friend can’t come over. It’s a heavy, sinking feeling. And it hides under mad all the time.

My friends, the feeling folk

Dr. Reyes calls us the feeling folk, because our feelings aren’t enemies — they’re just feelings, hanging out. Everybody’s got one. You probably do too. My friends are getting their own notebooks when their books come out:

Your turn

Draw your feeling friend.

Now it’s your turn. Think of a time this week a big feeling showed up. Tell your story like I told mine:

What happened? · Where did you feel it in your body? · How big was it, 1 to 5? · What was hiding under it? · What did you do that didn’t hurt anybody?

Draw it or write it. It doesn’t have to be a happy ending — it just has to be true.

Draw and color right on the screen — a grown-up can save the picture when it’s done. (No screen? Print this page and use paper.)