Why Everyone (Even Parents) Deserve Someone to Check in on Their Emotional Well-being

Even a simple “How are you?” or “You wanna head out?” can help people (especially parents) open the door to reflect on their emotional well-being.

When someone suggests checking our emotional well-being, we’re quick to respond that we don’t have time for that. Although we always tell others to care for themselves, the irony is that we don’t. But we don’t always do so willfully; sometimes, 24 hours (or 16 hours, rather, deducting the 8 hours of sleep) isn’t enough to allocate to allow that kind of check-up.

Who better to remind us than our timeless beloved muppet friends from Sesame Street?

Checking in does more wonders than we realize

When Elmo asked the internet how everyone was doing, the community on X (formerly on Twitter) blew up with all sorts of responses. While some responded with authentic answers of “not really” or the like, others responded with memes for a good laugh. But that’s the thing about responding with humor; we forget that jokes are “half-truths.” They had to come from somewhere.

Soon after Elmo’s response, the rest of Sesame Street joined in to check in on the rest of the world. With the hashtag #EmotionalWellbeing, responses from Cookie Monster, the Spanish-speaking muppet Rosita and even everybody’s favorite grouch, Oscar the Grouch, decided to check-in.

Each expressed empathy in various ranges according to their personality, with even the grouch accepting that he’s “not that great at listening” before pointing to someone who is.

There’s no shame in being unable to offer support for a close friend or loved one’s emotional well-being. Doing so when we’re not in the right mental space may make things even worse! Sometimes, the more ethical and helpful thing to do is to point them to someone who can help them. They may hesitate at first but just being there to make sure they do get that help is good enough.

#EmotionalWellbeing: So, how are we all today?

It’s frustrating to live in a world wherein there’s no “right answer” on how to parent our kids. While some traditional methods still hold some merit to a certain degree, it’s when we feel that people are starting to impose those on us that drives us mad. The struggle gets worse when our kids don’t respond in the way we expected, leaving us to deal with feelings we left buried because we needed to parent.

So, we would like to ask: how is everyone today?

More about mental health and checking in?

Little Things That Can Overwhelm Kids and Why
Understanding The Uniqueness of Neurodivergence with Laura Petix
Why We’re Proud That Sunshine Dizon Opened Up About Her Mental Health Issues