Anxiety: How to address your child's worries

It’s that time of the year again where everything is piling up; graduation, celebrations, weddings, camp packing, recitals, exams, moving dorms, moving schools and ceremonies galore! We all experience a little anxiety, and it is how we deal with this anxiety that helps us move forward. Some people become debilitated while others press through and continue onerous tasks.

The end of the school year can be daunting for some. It is a very busy time for students and their respective parents. Why does everything seem to be planned for June? If your child is experiencing avoidance of in-school rehearsals, shows a decline in behavior or has bouts of tears in June, it is probably due to the circumstances and conditions of the over-programmed, traumatic effects of JUNE.

We have a few tips and strategies to help you to enhance resiliency and get you and your child through to the end of the school year.

Keep calm: It is all going to happen, why worry about it? Take the time to enjoy these celebrations with your children and family members. If you are anxious about it all going down at once, your child will sense that and will likely be anxious as well.
Constant Check ins: maintain your child’s regular schedule as much as possible, considering there may be additional evening and weekend rehearsals. Talk to your child about everything they are doing.
Be positive and try to desensitize the event: Have a small family gathering and practice the upcoming performances with a smaller audience. Share images of your child performing in the past. If your child doesn’t perform the way he/she anticipated, there is always next year. Praise their efforts!
Communicate to your child that everything is a learning opportunity and mistakes are normal. We all learn from our mistakes!
Create a schedule with your child and try to stick to that schedule to keep organized: If you cannot do it all then do the best you can. Try to schedule what’s important and eliminate what you don’t need to be involved in.
Develop a plan for unexpected events and activities. The plan may include, deep breathing, talking about what’s next, self-talk, use simple explanations and a calm voice.

Here are some apps that can help calm your child giving them coping skills to relieve some of the pressure and anxiety they are feeling. With support and practiced strategies and techniques, children learn skills to help them cope independently.

Postive Penguins – This app is great for challenging negative thoughts and talking you way through your worries. It helps your child take a different position in a confrontation and understand and empathize with others.

Sleep Meditations for Kids – Gentle music and sounds will assist your child into a state of calmness. There are a number of meditation practises for your child.

Breathe Think Do Sesame – Allow your child to develop techniques to help in a variety of anxiety provoking situations.

Settle Your Glitter – Use the glitter ball to breathe slowly and develop patience. Allow your child to articulate how they are feeling and express their current mood.

The earlier you support your child’s anxieties, the better they will have an approach to coping with situations in the the early years. These skills will reduce behaviors that could affect your child later on in life. Symptoms and pressures for the month of June will end as quickly as they started, just know that it is like this for most children and parents!

How are you staying calm at this time of the year?

Meet the Author | Lisa

Lisa Kobrin is a mom to three children, aged 16, 19 and 21. She is passionate about education and loves home décor and fashion. She is a veteran mom and loves sharing all of her experiences with Savvy Sassy Moms readers. Lisa has put in her time as a mom of young children and now gets to get focus on her again! She loves fashion and beauty and is up to date on the latest trends for moms.