How To Help Your Child With First Day Anxiety

Summer vacation is coming to a close. All the trips,
fun activities, and camps are soon to be wonderful
memories. Hopefully, your child or children had a
great period of down time and are refreshed and ready
for a new and eventful school year.

I know many parents are quite ready for the new and
eventful school year. As much as we love our children,
they can be exhausting for some parents. Sometimes the
down time the summer vacation offers breeds some
unexpected and even undesirable behaviors. Whatever
the case, school starting brings a pleasant reprieve
for many parents.

Happy Day, The first day of school is just around
the corner. What do we do next as responsible parents?
Run to the store to buy all the necessities to have
a successful student. The clothes, tools of the trade,
everything that could possible be necessary. We help
them pack that bag and send them on their way.

One major thing many parents tend to forget for whatever
reason.

You may have prepared your little one with all the
material items he or she may need, but how about the head?
Yes, the head and I don't mean what's on top. I mean the
inside. Their beautiful head may very well be filled with
a load of anxiety.

For some children this anxiety can be very real and
overwhelming. For some, it's healthy.
For some children however, the anxiety of the beginning
of school can be terrifying. Many different situations
that may seem small to adults can be extremely difficult
for some children.

For the sake of empathy, I'll give two examples.
First, the simple act of getting on a school bus and finding
a place to sit can be terrifying. If your child is not the
most popular or even close, he or she may not know many
of the other students on that bus.

The act of having to walk down that isle on the bus
while everyone watches and then try to find a seat to share
can be sickening for some children. Of course, this
happens first thing in your child's day so this could
have an impact on the rest of the day.

OK, maybe not the rest of the day. Maybe just until lunch
time. This is the second example I promised you.
For some children, the act of trying to get place to
sit while eating lunch can be very difficult as well.
Try to imagine having to walk into a room and find
a place to sit when you are not a confident child.
It's easy if when you walk into the room and the others
start yelling your name but that doesn't happen very
often for the average child, let alone the quite child
that may not have many friends.

Based on my own experience, these are very real,
uncomfortable situations for some children that should
not be minimized.

What can you do for your child? How to help your child
with that first day anxiety?
I'll tell you. Here are some proven ideas.
Talk to your child about these scenarios. Make sure
your child knows he or she is not alone when it comes
to understanding how difficult these situations are.
Try to instill a sense of control which will ease
the sense of anxiety. It won't get rid of the problem,
but a sense of control empowers people including children.

Give your child real control over the situation by sharing
a few concrete suggestions to use that he/she is comfortable
with. Suggestions that your child feels they contributed.
Make sure your child has much of the say and is comfortable
with the solutions that will be used.

The first day may be exciting for some. Remember, it may not
be so exciting for others. Instead it can be a head filled
with anxiety based on lack of control.

Lets wish for the best for all our children.