A young racer character looking frustrated on a busy day in Rubberdale, with a sandwich waiting nearby
A racing car parked at a colorful pit stop in the sunny town of Rubberdale, ready to refuel and get back on track
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Pit Stop

awareness

It is a long free day in Rubberdale, and everybody is being mean to your racer... or are they? Did your racer take care of their own needs first? Or do they need to make a pit stop to refuel before continuing through the day?

ResilienceSelf-ManagementEatingGetting ReadySleepRubberdaleSchool ReadinessSelf-AwarenessRelationship Skills

About This Story

What your child will experience

In Pit Stop, your child pilots their own racer through a long, unscheduled day in Rubberdale — a day where everything seems to go sideways and everyone seems a little mean. Along the way, they make choices about what their racer thinks, feels, and does, including one moment where their racer snaps at someone who didn't deserve it.

The story quietly holds a secret your child knows from page one: their racer skipped sleep, skipped breakfast, and forgot their water bottle. The other racers aren't actually being unkind. A tired, hungry body just hears things that way.

Why this approach helps

This story uses a CBT-informed structure — a thought leads to a feeling, a pause happens, then the situation gets a second look — built around a self-check children can actually use: when the day feels rough, check the body first.

Over time, this kind of practice builds emotional vocabulary, body awareness, and the habit of pausing before reacting. It also models that a repair is still yours to make, even when you had a good reason for how you felt.

What to notice as a parent

Choices that reveal: How your child answers the story questions may reflect how they tend to read social situations when tired or hungry — worth a gentle follow-up like "Does that ever happen to you?"

The snap moment: If your child engages thoughtfully with the page where their racer loses their temper, that's a real opening for conversation about repair.

Personalize This Story

Make this story truly special by adding these details:

  • ✓Pick a racer.
  • ✓What is your favorite kind of sandwich?

Story Questions

Questions your child may be asked while creating this story:

  1. What does the main character think when a friend answers without looking up?
  2. What does the main character feel when the day starts to go wrong?
  3. What does the main character take care of first?
  4. How does the main character take care of what their body needs?
  5. What does the main character think about it all afterward?
Create This Story

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