A story about being afraid...

When I was at the Miami Book Fair, a mother and her 7 year old son came to our booth to say "hello." They both loved meeting the Emotes. The boy quickly picked up a Jumpi toy (he is the scared Emote) and hugged him. Next, he began to read Jumpi's book, "Jumpi Goes To Camp". It's a book all about being afraid. Jumpi has scary dreams and is afraid of doing things that he has never done before. The boy said that he was having scary dreams too.

I said, "It's okay to be scared. It's a totally normal feeling. Everyone feels scared sometimes. I'm glad that you could tell me about it."

I wondered what was making the boy feel scared. The boy's mom told me that he was going to the hospital soon. He was going to have an operation, and would have to stay in the hospital for quite a long time.

"I understand why you are afraid," I said. "I bet that you both have MANY different feelings." The boy and his mother both nodded their heads "yes."

We talked for a long time. The mom and I both had tears in our eyes. I was feeling many different feelings too. One feeling that I had was happiness. I was SO happy that the boy and his mom were talking about their feelings. I was also very happy that the boy had made a new friend in Jumpi, and didn't have to be alone with his feelings. I gave the boy the Jumpi toy and Jumpi's book. This seemed to make the boy happy too.

I have been thinking a lot about this boy and his mother. I hope that Jumpi will help to remind the boy that it is okay to be afraid. I also hope that Jumpi will remind the boy that he is not alone. He has people (and Emotes) that care about him and love him.