Once Upon an Upset

A story about how a vibrant, singing and dancing creature who had been held hostage inside a woman’s forehead finally escaped.

A story about a flamingo who attends school with a community of polar bears and has trouble meeting expectations.(Suitable for all ages.)

(Suitable for all ages.)This episode was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.New episodes every Wednesday!For illustrations, episode transcripts, children’s books and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Once upon a time there was an anguished cave mother who finally couldn’t take it anymore. Every night, she’d arrive back to her cave after hunting and gathering all day long, ready to fall asleep on her cozy boulder, but every night, without fail, her little ones would insist on a story before bed. And back then, without a book to close, a goodnight story could go on and on until almost dawn.  In fact, it wasn’t uncommon for poor prehistoric mothers to miss out on sleep entirely because of little ones begging and pleading for the thousandth time, “Please Mama, tell us what happened next!!! Please, Please, Please!!” But one day, this particular anguished mother just couldn’t think of what happened next.”— From 'The Origins Of Happily Ever After'(Suitable for all ages.)This episode was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.New episodes every Wednesday!For illustrations, episode transcripts, children’s books and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Once, there was a man who had a secret. A pretty big secret. You see, even though he looked like a regular man, inside he was really a pigeon.” — from 'A Pigeon At Heart'A Pigeon At Heart is a story about a man who felt it was easier to pretend to be someone he wasn’t. Until someone found out the truth of who he really was…(Suitable for all ages.)A Pigeon At Heart was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.New episodes every Wednesday!For illustrations, episode transcripts, children’s books and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Robert Baker had the flu, so he stayed home from work. He was told by his wife and also by his doctor to rest. But he couldn’t. He tossed and he turned and then gave up to watch TV in the living room.”— FROM "CHANNEL 15 ½"Channel 15 ½ is about a man who fears the whole world is against him and discovers it’s true. Sort of.(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)Channel 15 ½ was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.New episodes every Wednesday!For illustrations, episode transcripts, children’s books and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Once upon a time in a town called Thornling, sass and backtalk were taking over. Kids wouldn’t lift a finger and the moms were going gray from stress…”— from 'The Shears of Thornling’The Shears of Thornling is a story about a town that discovers their old-fashioned ways of solving behavior problems aren’t always the best.(Suitable for all ages.)The Shears of Thornling was written by Jessica Laurel Kane; music by Jerome Rossen at Freshmade Music.For illustrations, episode transcripts, merchandise and more, visit www.onceuponanupset.com.

“Once there was a boy who had OCD symptoms and tics. He would have to say certain things at certain times and clear his throat if he had the urge. His mom was pretty good at being empathetic but sometimes she got impatient. Especially when other circumstances in her life were adding additional stress. At those moments she’d say,” You have to be stronger! You have to delay that urge and learn to cope!” It sounded like the right thing to say, but underneath were different words, more truthful words: “I’m scared that my son is behaving like this and I’m tired. I wish he’d just stop.”—from ‘The Boy Who Used Rituals To Cope'A story about a mom who feels frustrated by her son’s OCD symptoms but then realizes that he’s really only doing the very best he can to cope with stressors out of his control.(For adults only.)This episode 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.

My son has lost a lot of people in his life already, and he often asks me to call my mother on my heart-phone so he can talk with her. I do a pretty good imitation of my mother and try to imagine what she’d say. Sometimes it really does feel like I’m channeling her. This is one of those conversations.(Suitable for all ages.)Channeling My Son’s Grand-Mère 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 poem for children and families experiencing loss and grief, based on my book Anchors in the Storm.(Suitable for all ages.)Anchors in the Storm 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.

“My name is Redmond but everyone calls me Mean Red because I’m mean. I heard a couple people whispering about me the other day. They were wondering why I’m so mean. And it got me thinking. I’ve known for a while that I’m good at being mean because I make a lot of kids cry. But I never really thought about how I got this way. So I thought about it and remembered.”-from ‘Mean Red’A mean boy tells the story of how he became mean.(Suitable for all ages.)Mean Red 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 mother and a son who were having trouble connecting. They used to connect all the time. I mean that’s ALL they did. But then little things started getting in their way. And those little things stacked up, like a wall between them. It used to be they would play all day. On the floor with trains or Legos. They’d make up stories that lasted hours, sometimes even days. The mother was tired. But her boy meant everything to her, so when he wanted to connect, she was pretty good at pretending she was wide awake. But then she stopped being good at pretending.”— from 'How To Connect When You're Having Trouble Connecting'A story about a mother and her tween son who wanted to connect but had a wall between them.(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)How To Connect When You're Having Trouble Connecting 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.

“Katie McKeever was the new girl in third grade. Katie McKeever was perfect. She didn’t walk, she did back handsprings. She received standing ovation after ovation not only from her peers but from her teachers, some of whom skipped their lunch breaks just to watch her on the balance beam. It was at that moment I knew I had to be a gymnast. Unfortunately, a gymnast I was not. I took one fall off the balance beam and had to be rushed to the nurse’s office.”— from 'The Girl Who Wanted To Be Someone Else’(Suitable for all ages.)The Girl Who Wanted To Be Somebody Else 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.

“This is a story about the wickedest witch in all of the land. They didn’t even make a movie about her, that’s how wicked she was. She had so many people in her dungeon, she had to hire a big company to make her a second dungeon. That’s how wicked she was.”— from 'Farmer John and the Wicked Witch of the Central Region'A wicked witch falls from the sky due to a broom malfunction. After landing in a cornfield, she meets a farmer and they wind up helping each other in surprising ways.(Suitable for all ages.)Farmer John and the Wicked Witch of the Central Region 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’ve noticed that a lot of times, people get triggered by each other because they’re coming from different perspectives, but don’t realize it.When a person sees circumstances from a top floor perspective, life can be understood metaphorically or conceptually or theoretically.When a person sees circumstances from the ground floor, they’re in survival mode.And in these moments on the ground floor, a person’s life depends on being able to navigate what’s going on down there and being available to respond. And for good reason. They very well may be fighting for their survival—whether the battle is within or from being traumatized or persecuted by another. Or perhaps their jobs on the ground floor are about saving other people’s lives.”—From ‘Top Floor and Ground Floor Perspectives'(Suitable for tweens, teens and adults.)Top Floor and Ground Floor Perspectives 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 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.