No one wants to receive unsolicited parenting advice. But there’s one effective way to handle a child’s big emotions

‘If the child is upset, their first need is to be seen and acknowledged,’ Yumi Stynes writes. Photograph: Katrina Wittkamp/Getty Images

I was at a kids’ soccer game and there were children everywhere. The environment was high-stress and even as an adult it was easy to feel overwhelmed just from being there. (Children in groups inexplicably scream.)

Among the chaos was a little girl about three years old, crying and flailing on the floor of the grandstand, while her mum paced around her, urging her to get up, leave the grounds and walk to the car so they could drive away.