Once Upon an Upset

“Once there was a tiny boy. Well, everything about him was tiny except for the pinky finger on his left hand. By the time this little boy was 4 years old, his pinky finger was the size of his dad.”

— From 'The Heavy Pinky’

A little boy has an extra long pinky and his parents worry it’ll never fit into the world. An allegory for people who may not feel like they fit into society, but how really, there’s plenty space for everyone to be just as they are.

(Suitable for all ages.)

The Heavy Pinky was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“When unpleasant things happened to me when I was younger, my younger self diligently recorded the details of the event so that if I ever found myself in a situation even remotely similar, she could warn me that something toxic was near.”

— from 'Messages From Our Younger Selves'

(Suitable for teens and adults.)

Messages From Our Younger Selves was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

A story about the burden of carrying around your upsets.

(Suitable for all ages.)

The Boy With The Heavy Suitcase was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Here’s a secret: I have an elevator in my body. Yup. And it takes me wherever I want to go.”

— from 'My Elevator'

(Suitable for all ages.)

My Elevator was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“To me, an intrusive thought is any thought that interrupts what you want to be doing with reasons why you shouldn’t be doing it, reasons that make you feel bad about yourself. Throughout my life, I’ve dealt with a lot of intrusive thoughts, but because of this, I’ve been able to come up with some techniques to reframe them, diffuse their intensity, understand them in new ways, and even turn them into insights. So though I don’t expect what worked for me will work for everyone, I thought I’d share, just in case it’s useful.”

— from 'What To Do With An Intrusive Thought'

A piece about intrusive thoughts and some ideas for how to reframe them, diffuse their intensity, understand them in new ways, and even turn them into insights.

(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)

What To Do With An Intrusive Thought was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“I have a confession.
Oh, how I wish I could keep it to myself. But the burden has grown too heavy.
You see… I… am not who you think I am.
I am… a phony.”

—From 'A Dog Called Dapper’

A very cute dog wishes his owners would understand that there's so much more to who he really is.

(Suitable for all ages.)

A Dog Called Dapper was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Once upon a time there was a boy who really loved getting ice cream from this one particular store. Several times a week he went to this store and every time, he left the store with his ice cream.
Life was good.
Until one day he went to this store, to where the ice cream was, except there was no ice cream.”

— from ‘When The Ice Cream Ran Out’

When The Ice Cream Ran Out is an allegory about being attached to something that’s no longer available the way it once was—maybe a friendship that’s faded, or a favorite place that’s gone out of business—and how difficult it is to let go of what used to be, until we remember that we can shift our focus elsewhere and discover a new world of other wonderful things.

(Suitable for all ages.)

When The Ice Cream Ran Out was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Once there was a little girl who loved to count.
“Mama,” she said one morning. “I’m going to count to infinity!”
“But darling,” her mother replied. “There’s no time to count to infinity!”
But the little girl was precocious and wanted to find out for herself.”

— from ‘There's No Time To Count To Infinity’

The story of a little girl determined to count to infinity.

(Suitable for all ages.)

There's No Time To Count To Infinity was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

"Sometimes I think kids imagine that grown-ups have it all together. And though many of us have worked hard to deliver the best version of ourselves out into the world, many of us grown-ups are still growing and still trying to understand what’s underneath our own behavior, while trying at the same time to be there for our kids while they develop their own best versions of themselves.

And sometimes this can get messy, especially when us grown-ups have our moments, those moments when our best selves get lost underneath our own upsets.

So I thought it might be useful to share a family drama of my own, so anyone of any age can get a glimpse of what happens when three people—me, my son, and my husband—are all having difficulty seeing each other’s concerns in the heat of a moment."

From 'Learning About Conflict From Different Perspectives: A Glimpse Into A Real-Life Drama From My Own Family'

A piece about a family drama and the insights it provided, followed by a poem based on my son’s thoughts on screen time and playing Minecraft.

(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)

Learning About Conflict From Different Perspectives: A Glimpse Into A Real-Life Drama From My Own Family was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“To me, one of the hardest things about being a person is figuring out how to get along with other people. It seems like there’s always some problem, some conflict, some battle. It makes sense, though—we’re all walking around at the very same time with our private thoughts and our private wants and needs, our private circumstances and private memories of past circumstances.”

— From 'How To Get Along With Other People By Seeing Them Through A Different Perspective'

A conversation about shifting one’s perspective so that when other people behave in ways that are toxic to us, we don’t have to internalize the toxicity and have our days be ruined. Instead we can see the situation differently, and through doing so, find empathy for ourselves and maybe even for those most difficult people in our lives.

(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)

How To Get Along With Other People By Seeing Them Through A Different Perspective was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.

New episodes every Wednesday!

For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.