Paige rides the bus to school. Every day, she walks with her mom from the front door to the school bus. Every day, she says “Hi” to the bus driver. Every day, she sits in the same seat. Every day, she looks out the window and watches the cars go by.
Paige likes it when everything is the same. She likes it when the walk to the bus is the same, when the bus driver is the same, when she sits in the same seat, and when she looks out of the same window.
When things are the same, Paige feels calm and happy.
Some mornings, things are not the same. Some mornings, things are different.
On different mornings, Paige might walk more by herself. On different mornings, she might say “Hi” to a different bus driver. On different mornings, she might sit in a different seat. On different mornings, she might look out of a different window.
When things are different, sometimes Paige gets upset. Upset feels sad and mad and makes everything hard. Getting upset doesn’t make things the same again.
There are a few things Paige can do to help herself feel calm and happy:
- Paige can say “it’s different”. Sometimes it feels better just to say it out loud.
- Paige can say “hi” to a different bus driver. The new person is nice too.
- Paige can even sit in a different seat and look out a different window. She might see some very cool stuff.
And, tomorrow, some things will be the same, and some will be different, and it’s all okay.