My son has trouble expressing his emotions, how do I help him

[glasshouse]

My 6 year old son keeps everything very much to himself. He cannot tell me what happened at school (or anywhere else) because 'he forgot'. He has trouble letting me know if anything is wrong and gets very stressed because he has it in his head and cannot get it out - so he just 'forgets'. How can I help him?

May be you could use story books on emotions and talk about how you are feeling more often. I tell my 6yo how I'm feeling alot, it has helped him to become more confident in articulating how he feels eg: "I'm feeling a bit sad today because ...." or "I'm so happy because ..." It really helped him express himself and open up to me more. However, he has behaviour issues and really needed to be able to let us know how he was feeling. This was one I bought:

www.amazon.co.uk/All-Kinds-Feelings-Lift-Flap/dp/185707596X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qi d=1241184050&sr=1-6

I'm also familiar with the "I forgot" phrase too - just easier for them to say nothing.

Thanks for that Icandothat, good idea about talking about how I am feeling more often, I dont think I do that very much. Its just so heartbreaking seeing him get so stressed when he wont/cant tell me, I then tend not to push it. Will have a look at the book as well.

quick bump before I leave work.