Leo's Feelings Jar

Leo woke up one morning feeling... something. But he didn't know what. It was big and buzzy and sat in his tummy like a frog.

"How are you feeling?" asked Mom.

"I don't know," said Leo. "My tummy feels weird."

Mom brought out a jar full of colored stones. "This is a Feelings Jar," she said. "Each color means a different feeling. Yellow is happy. Blue is sad. Red is angry. Green is worried. Purple is excited."

Leo looked at the stones. He picked up a green one. "I think I'm worried."

"About what?" asked Mom gently.

"It's show-and-tell today. What if nobody likes what I bring?"

"That sounds like a green feeling," said Mom. "And that's okay. Worried means you care about something. That's actually pretty brave."

Leo held the green stone in his hand. Just holding it made the feeling smaller somehow. Like the worry moved from his tummy into the stone.

He put the green stone by his breakfast plate. Then he picked up a purple one too. "I'm also a little excited," he admitted. "Because I'm bringing my robot."

"Two feelings at once!" said Mom. "That happens a lot."

Leo smiled. Having words for feelings made them much less scary. He put both stones in his pocket and headed to school.

And show-and-tell? Everyone loved his robot.