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Hi,
I’m trying to understand what kind of image the character “Stinky Steve” mentioned below can convey to a little child. The passage below is taken from a book on parenting and contains a few suggestions on how to teach kids to take control of their worrying thoughts: in this case, it refers to Separation anxiety at school drop off (I think “school” in this case is to be understood as “preschool” or “daycare center”)

I’ve seen the story of Stinky Steve here - http://stinkysteve.com/faq - but it seems to relate to somewhat older kids. O maybe is Stinky Steve also a character from fairy tales I don’t know?

I was wondering whether in this context Stinky Steve can be compared to Talking Cricket in the book Pinocchio, but I’m not sure...

Thanks for any hint!

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Teach your child about not having to believe all her thoughts, and have her imagine talking to her brain whenever she hears it making unhelpful comments. Remind her that she can argue with her brain.

You can even teach her to name that negative voice inside her. In making this silly, you relieve some of the tension while helping her see that she has control over the situation. When she starts to get upset at being dropped off, bring up that negative voice in a gently joking way: “Is that ** Stinky Steve ** talking again? Stinky Steve doesn’t know anything about your school! Stinky Steve, stop telling Lucy that Mommy won’t come back – you’re always trying to trick her! Lucy, what do you want to tell Stinky Steve?” Have your child write down (or tell you) all the thoughts she has about being dropped off at school. Put them into two columns – one for helpful thoughts, one for unhelpful thoughts. Then have a conversation with Stinky Steve (or whatever name you give that negative voice).