Back-to-School-itis

Today we have a guest post by Charlotte Reznick PhD. Charlotte Reznick is a child educational psychologist, an associate clinical professor of psychology at UCLA, and author of a new book, The Power of Your Child's Imagination: How to Transform Stress and Anxiety into Joy and Success (Perigee, 2009, $14.95).

Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr

Six Tools to Relieve Your Child's "Back-to-School-itis"

By Charlotte Reznick PhD

For some kids, going back to school at the end of summer can be traumatic. Anticipating a new teacher, classmates, grade, or school can trigger fear, anxiety, and depression--not to mention very real physical symptoms such as stomachaches, headaches, and insomnia.

Fortunately, your child has a whole toolbox to draw from--in her own imagination. Here are six imagination tools parents can use with young children to relieve "back-to-school-itis."

Teach her to balloon breathe. With her hands around her navel, have her breathe slowly and deeply into her lower belly so it presses into her hands like an inflating balloon. The Balloon Breath has dramatic calming effects and facilitates a waking state of focused concentration and receptivity to positive suggestions. This one tool makes all the other ones easier.

Visit his special place. This is a safe private place within your child's inner world where he can work out problems or take a mini-vacation from stress and worry. He can invite a wise Animal Friend into his special place to talk to and help him, or he can even dig for a treasure box there that contains the antidote to his fear.

Draw the fear. Putting an image on paper: (1) makes her fear of separation realer and less frightening than keeping it inside, and (2) makes her fear less likely to grow because there is a concrete picture to work with. Once she has a picture, she can talk to it, find out why it's trying to scare her, strike a bargain with it, surround it with a soothing color bubble, and so on.

Talk to his symptom. When a child suffers from a worry headache or stomachache, these three questions can help eliminate the pain. Have him do deep balloon breathing (diaphragmatic breathing), then ask: (1) What color is it? (2) What shape is it? (3) How heavy is it? After more breaths, ask him again. Continue to breathe and question in rounds. His pain will likely change or disappear. If it doesn't completely go away, ask the ache what it wants him to know, do, or understand to release any more bits of pain.

Picture the future. Artwork is also an effective starting point when you're working with clear end-goals, like getting a good night's sleep or reducing a fear. Have your child draw two drawings--how things are now and how she'd like them to be. Hang the picture in her bedroom; this is a great reminder of her desired goal and the first step toward getting there.

Encourage drama. For kids whose nature tends toward drama, acting out their worries and troubles is a wonderful way to release them. Let them play it out--with puppets, with their bodies, with anything their imagination suggests. It's amazing what creative solutions come up when given free reign.

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Who took the Lockers?

Our schools have offered a helping hand around here.
They are offering breakfast and lunch to all kids in our area.
That will provide some much needed meals for many.

I thought I would pop up and see if there was a way to help out.
Of course there is always a way to help.

But, in doing so I found out something that surprised me.
There are not any school lockers!
Yeah, they have taken out every locker for the students.
I am not sure where all of their books and things are to be kept?
I know that the back packs keep getting heavier and heavier.
I wonder if they put in the smaller lockers that would just hold their school books if it would work. You could put in 18 triple lockers where 6 full size lockers were.

Is this happening where you live?
What is the reason for removing them?
I don't think this is a good thing to do. It would be awful to have to always carry your backpack all day long. And I bet it could do damage to a students back.
Is there a better solution for the students?

Well I looked around and did find that the gym lockers are still there.
Thank goodness for that.
I would hate to have to add sweaty gym socks to the already full backpacks.

Hey?
I wonder if there is a locker for sale?
I would like to put a locker in my garage?
That would be a great storage idea.

A bit of quiet time

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Today life seems quiet. We are all waiting to hear of any outcome for our family with the twins. Still do not know how the dad is doing at the hospital. Family will not relay any information to the mom. The mom is arriving now with the 2 yr old twins and the 4 yr old boy and the 6 yr old girl before she goes to work at the nursing home. I am going to start referring to this family as the Twin Family (TF). There is all sorts of stories flying around our lil town as to what has happened. And to speculation as to who is at fault. This is not making it any easier for the mom or kids. We are also worried on the custody issues since dad is hospitalized in unknown condition. His family is reported to be here to try and take the kids with them. TF mom has contacted her lawyer but he is not seeming to be concerned til he knows what the police say about it all. Meanwhile the school is not sure what to do since the dad had full custody and mom only visitation. It is just too much at one time.

Otherwise we are doing the same as before. Watching the kids, taking them to school and back here. Trying to keep things here on the same schedule as before. Make it where the kids are not worried. I am working on keeping the house up. It seems like we have been up and down so much here lately. With TF mom living with us for a month. She now has a rental. Just get her moved and this happens. CG is getting ready to leave for a new semester. She currently has one of her BFF here visiting for a week. It feels like a revolving door. LOL Dear Nessa across the street says for a calm house we sure do have a lot going on here.

But for now, the babies are sleeping. The TF kids are watching Blue's Clues. I am making coffee for me and hot tea for my mom. Life is not to loud. And we have a lil time for breakfast before we start getting kids off to school. Oh for these quiet times.