For many parents, the return of children back to school is a mixture of relief and stress. We feel stressed because there’s a lot of prep work for the return to school and there is also a sense of relief when we can all get back to a set routine and schedule.
Leading up to the first day of school for your kids, you may notice feelings of concern, fear, and nervousness or even anger and irritability.
If your family has had a relaxed scheduled this summer, you may find that it’s time to get back into a routine to prepare for your back-to-school schedule! This afternoon my elementary-aged child and I created a new Routine Chart. Routine Charts are a positive parenting tool that can help streamline a routine or process, help your child increase their autonomy and skills and releases you of the nagging for all that has to be done! Instead of asking quick-fire questions in the morning about all their morning tasks, you can simply ask, “Have you completed your morning routine?”
As the school-year ends, many families embrace a slower schedule, or lack thereof. Taking a break from the busy school schedule is well-deserved, but if you’re like my family, some structure and routine to the day can keep things interesting when day in and day out at home can seem boring after a while.
A summer schedule can also help set some boundaries around use of technology, which research shows is correlated to poor academic performance and higher mental and emotional health symptoms. And at least at my house, the more screen time there is, the more outbursts we have, which tells me their brains need less of it! If you want to include technology time in your summer schedule, you could designate a limited amount somewhere throughout the day.
It is unfortunate that school shootings in the United States are so rampant that our schools must now include Intruder Drills as part of the rehearsed safety drills each school year. It is terrifying to think about any type of disaster where our children and caregivers are endangered, but especially so when it would be at the hands of another person. Just as we gain “muscle memory” and a sense of control and preparedness from other types of safety drills, such as fire and tornado drills, providing intruder drills can help accomplish this as well. Here are six tips for talking about and providing these drills in a way that prepares children and gives them space to process it.
Should you talk to your kids about self-harm?
Short answer: YES!
When it comes to talking to kids about self-harm, parents sometimes worry that bringing up the subject will put the idea in their child’s head. The truth is, though, your child is going to hear about self-harm at school, through their peers, and on social media. But, if you are the one talking about the topic, you can debunk any myths, make sure your kids have the facts, and establish that they can talk to you about anything.
When couples decide to end a relationship and it leads to the breakup of a family with children, the amount of information to process can be somewhat overwhelming. While the separation may be what’s best for everyone involved, how the information is shared with children will be a memory they hold forever. How this family change is shared can impact the trajectory of the entire transition for each child. This process should be handled with tender care and with an emphasis on how you, the parents, will provide physical, mental, and emotional safety for each child. Here’s a simple list to guide you through a very challenging decision making process which can help you share this news with your children in the most honest and gentle way possible.
As a Therapist who has spent over a decade working with families and children, I’ve had the great privilege of sharing the various journeys of many, many clients. Some journeys (especially at the end of my work with clients) take a positive turn; I cherish the moments when I see clients thriving and no longer needing therapy for the time being. Most people, however, begin their work with me at the start of a challenging journey, such as a journey of separation and divorce. Since I specialize in working with children, teens, and parents, the caregivers typically reach out to me after they’ve made decisions to end their relationship. They are oftentimes seeking out support for the purposes of best caring for their children through the transition. Sometimes they need support in developing c0-parenting skills, and sometimes they need support in how to tell their children about the divorce (and most times, both). If you need help in planning how to tell your children you are separating, this article may be helpful, here.
Grief is a complex mixture of emotions. Grief can come from many types of losses or transitions including death of a loved one or pet, divorce, job loss, loss of a friendship, moving, etc. Grief emotions are often cyclical in nature and are felt at various levels throughout the year depending on the intensity of emotional triggers. Sometimes seasonal changes bring back memories of other emotional experiences at that same time of year.
My partner and I have two children, who are four years apart in age. As anxious and loving new parents, we participated in our oldest child’s play as much as we could, and as early as we could. From infancy, we joined our oldest on the floor to show interest in his world, communicate with him in the language he speaks (play), and demonstrate his importance and value to us. As a Registered Play Therapist, I teach parents daily about the importance of child’s play and how children learn, problem solve, communicate, express, and work through their feelings, all through play. I also educate families about how much love and significance a child feels when parents join in the activities that bring joy to the child; it builds connection! And as we know, when children are more connected, they are generally more cooperative. So much good comes from playing with your children!
Families across the country are preparing for the upcoming holiday break. This time of year, while full of joy and love, can also be a time of chaos and stress for many people. There is a change in routine and schedule, new experiences, new stimuli and lots of changes in general.
Consider your holiday break last year. Was it stressful? Would you like this year to be more on the Merry & Bright side instead of the Chaotic & Stressful side? We are here to help! Creative Family Counseling has two upcoming, time limited services available, which can help your winter break go peacefully this year!