How preschool teachers manage and express their feelings across school-based interactions (e.g., teacher-child, teacher family, and teacher-colleague) has implications for their professional success and the developmental and academic outcomes of their relational counterparts. This study explores how preschool teachers make sense of their emotional labor, or the deliberate expression or suppression of emotions to achieve organizational goals, in the context of three professional interactions. Qualitative findings show preschool teachers’ decisions to engage in particular types of emotional acting are both informed by and a facilitator of the strength and intimacy of their relationships. Implications for research, practice and policy are reviewed. (author abstract)