How to Acknowledge Their Fears While Still Giving Hope 

Parenting Perspective 

Validate Feelings First, Then Offer Reassurance 

It is natural for you as a parent to want to lift your children’s spirits when they are unsettled by change. However, children often need to feel that their emotions are understood before they are ready to hear hopeful messages. If positivity comes too quickly, they may feel that their sadness, fear, or anger is being brushed aside. The balance lies in validating their feelings first, then offering reassurance. For example, you can say, ‘I can see that you are scared about this change, and that makes sense. It feels big and unknown.’ Once your child feels heard, you can gently add, ‘At the same time, I believe we will find good in it together.’ This approach communicates that you are not denying their emotions, but you are also not leaving them stuck in fear. 

Show That Hope and Fear Can Coexist 

Children also benefit when you show them how hope and fear can exist together. Let them know it is possible to feel nervous and hopeful at the same time. Share how you also feel uncertainty, but you remind yourself that change can bring hidden blessings. This modelling gives them permission to have mixed feelings without guilt, while also guiding them towards resilience. 

Keep Your Reassurances Practical and Realistic 

It may also help to keep your words practical and realistic. Instead of overly grand reassurances, point to small, concrete things they can expect, such as, ‘You will still have time with your favourite toys,’ or ‘We will find a way to keep in touch with friends.’ This shows hope is grounded in action, not empty promises. 

Spiritual Insight 

Balance Hardship With Trust in Allah 

Islam teaches us that acknowledging hardship and holding onto hope are not opposites, but complementary parts of faith. When we guide our children through change, we are not asked to hide the reality of difficulty but to balance it with trust in Allah. 

With Hardship Comes Ease 

Allah Almighty states in the noble Quran at Surah Al Inshirah (94), Verses 5–6: 

‘Thus with (every) hardship there is facilitation (from Allah Almighty). Indeed, with (every) hardship there is facilitation (from Allah Almighty).’  

This repetition is a reminder that challenges are always paired with relief. Teaching children this principle allows them to see that fear of difficulty is valid, yet Allah’s promise of ease gives them hope at the same time. 

Trials Can Be a Sign of Growth and Care 

It is recorded in Sunan Ibn Majah, Book 36, Hadith 106, that the holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said: 

‘Whoever Allah intends good for, He tests him with trials.’  

This hadith helps children understand that trials are not signs of abandonment but signs of growth and care from Allah. As a parent, you can frame change as both a test and an opportunity for your family to draw closer to Allah, without dismissing the emotions it brings. 

By first acknowledging your children’s fears, then gently reminding them of Allah’s promise of ease, you show them that hope is not denial but faith in action. In this way, you help them feel safe, understood, and spiritually uplifted at the same time.