Tilly's looking forward to her friends coming over today as she's not been in school for a few days. 

 

 

Tilly's been feeling upset because her parents had made their decision to get divorced so they no longer live together.

 

This was a very difficult decision for Tilly’s mom and dad, but they felt it was the right decision.

There was a knock at the door and Tilly's mom said cheerfully, "Sounds like your friends are here Tilly."

Tilly went to open the door with her mom and greeted Kristina, Arjun and Tom with a smile. It felt great to see her friends.

 

The children made their way into the lounge and sat down comfortably. Kristina, Arjun and Tom knew Tilly was feeling upset so they were on a very important mission to help cheer her up!

They had brought Tilly a special gift and Kristina passed it to her. "We've got something for you Tilly."

Tilly looked surprised as she wasn't expecting anything. She took the gift from Kristina and said, "this is kind of you all, thank you." Tilly opened her gift and smiled. She held up her gift and showed her mom who had just walked in with some drinks.

 

Tilly's mom smiled and said, "how very thoughtful of

you Kristina, Arjun and Tom. Thank you for being such

wonderful friends."

 

The children smiled back at Tilly's mom while Tilly placed her gift on the fireplace. She put it there so she could regularly see it and remind herself of how strong she was.

 

The children had their drinks and decided to watch television. It was one of Tilly's favourite programmes, a quiz show. All the children had guesses at answering the questions and Tom was deliberately coming up with some crazy answers. The children laughed so loudly that Tilly's mom was sure the neighbours could hear them.

 

After the programme had finished Tilly switched the television off and said, "I'll be coming back to school on Monday."

 

Tilly had missed a few days of school as she was feeling upset when her dad had moved out.

"That's good Tilly," said Tom thoughtfully, "it will be great to see you back at school. We've missed you."

 

"I've missed your wriggle," said Kristina cheekily and all the children started laughing.

"I've started to understand that the decision for my parents to divorce is right as now they both seem happier," explained Tilly. She looked over at her mom and smiled. Tilly loves her mom and dad and doesn't like it when they argue.

Arjun felt brave to talk about his parents. He took a deep breath and said, "it's very hard dealing with sad times in life Tilly. When my mom died everything just stopped around me, it's difficult to explain. I found it really hard to live without my mom and my dad struggled too.”

  

 

 

Tom looked over at Arjun and smiled. He remembered

what a tough time Arjun went through when his mom had died.

Arjun smiled back at Tom and said, "my friends, especially Tom really helped me as I talked to him about my emotions. Sometimes I felt angry, sad and not able to find the energy to do things. Tom always listened to me and encouraged me to talk about how I was feeling. He also reminded me that my feelings are important.”

"You are very strong Arjun," said Tilly, "we're your friends and are always here to listen to you if you want to talk about how you're feeling."

"Your mom was a lovely lady Arjun and I miss her too," said Tilly's mom feeling quite sad. "She would be so proud of you."

Arjun smiled and remembered some of the funny moments his mom and Tilly's mom had had together. The one time when they had all ended up at the supermarket, Tilly's mom sang happy birthday to his mom on the supermarket's tannoy system. Some of the other shoppers joined in too with singing happy birthday.

Arjun's mom felt like a celebrity and staff in the supermarket and people shopping had also come up to her to wish her a happy birthday.

"The memories are so special," said Arjun smiling.

Kristina told Arjun he was doing the right thing by talking about his emotions. "My mom died 3 years ago and it was the hardest time of my life. My auntie comes and visits us regularly and we go to the park where mom liked going for walks. Sometimes we even get ice-creams, just like the ones mom liked."

 

Kristina got a bit upset and Tilly's mom gave her a hug. She hugged her until Kristina was ready to let go.

 

"You're a very strong girl Kristina and I'm sure your mom would be so proud of you. Always remember to speak to someone you trust about how you are feeling as all our feelings are important," said Tilly’s mom.

"It's okay Kristina, my mom and dad tell me that it's okay to cry as it helps to release our emotions. I've cried a few times and felt better as I'm not trapping my emotions inside me," explained Tilly.

Tom looked towards Kristina and said, "we all have to stay strong and look out for each other. It's good that we're comfortable talking to each other about our feelings."

 

"Mom, I'm sad that dad doesn't live with us now, but I understand it's better as you are both much happier now," said Tilly.

"Thank you Tilly, looking after our mental health is just as important as looking after our physical health," explained mom. "It's so important to be happy and unfortunately unexpected things happen and we need to decide what is best."

"My dad says that too," added Kristina cheering up a little bit. Mental health and physical health are both important so I always try to watch something funny on the television when I'm sad as it helps to cheer me up."

"Sometimes parents know it's better to separate or divorce as they want different things in life. We also want to be sure that our children are spending enough time with us both. Dad and I are still friends and love you Tilly."

"It was hard at first, mom," explained Tilly. "It doesn't feel so tough now as I get to see dad at the weekends and get to spend time with you in the week. We have a routine so I know that I will get to spend time with you both."

 

"I've been looking after my mental health too," said Tom. "When I lose a football match it can make me very angry and I feel like screaming and shouting. My dad reminds me to calm down and not to cause myself any stress.”

The children quickly ate their snacks and went into the garden. Playing tennis was part of their mission to cheer Tilly up as she enjoys playing tennis the most.

As soon as they were in the garden they remembered to do their warm ups.

 

“1 2 3 4 5 clap your hands and touch your toes,

6 7 8 9 10 turnaround and stretch your arms,

Let’s jog on the spot,

And be a robot,

Now that we’re all done,

It’s time to have some fun.”

After their warm ups it was time for a doubles tennis match which was definitely going to cheer Tilly up. She was probably going to win as she paired up with Kristina who was also getting good at tennis.

 

 

The children felt happy to have each other to talk to

and share their emotions with as they understand emotions are very important to deal with.

 

As well as happy times, there are sad and difficult times in life and it feels comforting knowing that friends are there to share your happy times and help and support you in your tough and difficult times.