The Mummy Manual – Part 1:
The Very Best Things You Can Possibly Say When…
…they feel lacking in confidence
“You are amazing!
Just as you are – and no-one in the Universe is quite like you.”
…they are worried
“I love you! I will always love you – whatever happens.
There is no problem we can’t sort out together.”
…their feelings are tricky
“It’s all right to cry.
It is alright to feel cross, grumpy, sad, angry or shy.
All feelings are ok – they are what make us, us.”
…they did something great
“You made a good choice.
That makes me really proud as I know you make good choices,
even when noone is watching.
I hope you feel proud of yourself too.”
…you mess up
“Even though I am a grown up, I made a mistake.
I am really sorry and I will put this right.
Everyone makes mistakes, even me.”
. ..they feel insecure
“I’m here. I won’t leave without saying good-bye.
I love looking after you.
I love listening to you.”
…they want to tell you something
“Tell me EVERYTHING. I’d like to hear more.
And then what happened?
And then? I want to hear it all.”
…they mess up
“That was a mistake.
But we all make mistakes.
Let’s work out together how we can put this right.
Oh, and if you are sorry – I forgive you.
If you don’t feel sorry….let’s talk about why.”
…they can’t decide
“You can choose whatever you want to…but it is perfectly OK to change your mind later.
Sometimes you find out new things that make you change your mind.T
That shows that you are properly thinking about things, which is great.”
…they have a good idea
“WOW – you are so clever!
That was really great thinking.
Tell me how you did that.”
…they have shown good character
“You showed lots of kindness/thoughtfulness/helpfulness then.
How wonderful, that makes me feel proud.
How did that make YOU feel?”
…they need a little lift
I have a surprise for you.
Just because.
…they are feeling flustered
“No rush. We have plenty of time.
Better to be a bit late and happy than on time and stressed.”
…there is time to
“For the next hour we can do anything you want.
What would you like to do?
(Something we can sensibly do –
can’t be DisneyLand for example)
It’s your turn to decide. You have great ideas.
It’s important for us all to follow our special interests.”
…they spend time with other people
“It’s really good to use good manners like saying Please and Thank You.
These are important words, please feel happy when you use them.
If I forget sometimes will you remind me?”
…you get home
“I missed you today.
I think about you when we are not together!”
…there’s something new
“Have a try.
It’s great to try new things, even if you only try them a tiny bit.
Everything was new once and look at all the things you like now.
It is GOOD for us to just try…
(Even if we find out we don’t like it – at least we’ll know)
Sometimes you start to like things you didn’t like before,
so it is worth trying again another day.”