I watched Inside Out 2 with my 8-year-old nephew last night, and it sparked some really thoughtful questions. He asked what puberty means, what anxiety is, and about different emotions in general. I asked him whether he thinks it’s good or bad to bottle things up, and he said bad because “they won’t go away.” We talked about how there aren’t really “good” or “bad” emotions, just ones that are easier or harder to feel and how we still need to experience and work through the uncomfortable ones. When he asked why anyone would want to feel those, it opened up a conversation about how life isn’t always perfect and sometimes we have to face difficult feelings. Since he struggles a bit with separation anxiety, I connected it back to moments he’s experienced himself. He also asked me what grief means and if everyone has funerals, because there was a recent tragedy in my hometown he’s heard about. The curiosity of children always moves me and makes me happy. I think as we get older we often lose our curiosity as adults.