[Marshmalohgrrl]

I had a scary thing happen today while I was at the store with my Daddy. I saw a rack of books that had local history and ghost stories and I stopped to look. I only looked for a second or two and when I looked up, Daddy was gone. I looked around the area but I didn't see him and we talked about looking at cake mix so I stood at the end of the baking aisle near the big aisle and froze. I couldn't talk and I was being little and people were giving me mean looks. And I just kept getting more scared until finally I got brave and started looking in the aisles nearby and Daddy went to get my deodorant and bubble bath while I was reading.

Then I got mad and marched right up to him and punched him in the arm. He seemed shocked until he realized I was really upset. And then he hugged me and said he was sorry and threatened to put me on a leash next time.

I've never done that before. Not been able to come back out of littlespace like that when something happens. But I was really scared and almost crying because I couldn't find my Daddy two aisles away.

[Birdi]

That's a very very scary thing!!! I think a lot of times it's easy to get stuck staying small when you're sad or scared. They're such big feelings and big feelings can turn off our brain's ability to think properly!!!

I'm very glad you found your daddy and I hope he was very nice and understanding. It sounds like he was understanding cos he said he was sorry!

A lot of times during the big scary bad sad moments I have a lot of calm down techniques I use. It's important to use them a lot so you can remember to use them as like an instinct and not forget about them when the big feelings make it hard to think. It can help maybe to try to find some calm down techniques to help you feel a little calm to maybe help you be brave even when you're small.

But also it's very understandable to be scared, and some people would get mad at themselves because they got stuck small and got scared over a "stupid" thing. You don't want to be mean to yourself! It was a really scary thing that happened it was scary! Be gentle and nice to your own scared self!

Sorry if any of that was weird to say I just wanted to help!! I'm really glad you're ok now!!

[Marshmalohgrrl]

That actually helped a lot. I did get mad at myself for not being able to "snap out of it" and just go find him, especially when people were giving me really weird looks. I'll have to try and find some calm down things because it was like my brain wasn't listening to me and my big voice was very far away.

[Birdi]

I have a lot of anxiety problems so I kind of relate to the experience in that way. When I am very scared I just like can't do even the most basic easy grown-up stuff!! And it's not bad. It's ok, it's something that brains do sometimes. It's normal!

I think you did good getting through that situation.. You deserve praise, not being mad at yourself! I'm so glad you're ok now! And I'm so glad you had the courage to reach out and talk to people about this very scary vulnerable moment and to try to find solutions to help yourself in case it happens again!! You have so much courage to talk about the scary thing!

My calm down things are things my therapist taught me. She likes Mindfulness a lot. Taking deep breathes and focusing on the sensation of the air coming in and out. I can touch or look at things around me and focus as hard as I can on the touching and looking. There's a spot on my hand I rub, it's supposed to be an acupressure thing. Sometimes I carry a special rock with me in my pocket and really make that a focus object. Stuff for grounding and blah blah blah! There's a lot of different things. None of the things calm me down completely but they can sometimes help my brain so I can think and function again.

I think you know yourself and I think you can come up with ways to help calm down the best, you will find things that work for you. My therapist says it's important to practice them a lot, even when you're not very upset, so you can remember the calm down things even when you are very VERY scared.

Also I am very sorry about the people giving you mean looks. Other people being mean makes things so much more hard. Yuck!! I wish people would be more non-judgemental. It would make the world a better place to live.

Good luck!!!