behavior the next time we feel overwhelmed by our child’s words.
Be Their Safe Space
While some parents have seen similar statements coming from their own children, others have acknowledged that they can now identify these qualities in themselves from when they were youngsters.
As a mother of an anxious kid, one piece of advice is to provide a secure place where the child may let out all of their emotions. Establish a routine that is reliable, risk-free, and steady. Master the art of detecting them.
“My mom brought me to a million experts and put me on a variety of medicines for stomach issues when I was in first grade. I missed a month of school because ‘my belly aches’,” a parent expressed. “It seems my worry was the real issue.”
Other concerned parents have said, “I really appreciate this! Just before my kid started his online education a few weeks ago, I was attempting to sort things out. I wanted to know how he felt when he said he didn’t want to attend class. At least I know what else to keep an eye out for now.”
Melissa shared her strategies for helping her kids identify and name their emotions. “If children can identify and label their emotions,” she said, “Then we can cope with it correctly.”
A worry-timer, in which parents listen to their child’s concerns for ten to fifteen minutes at a predetermined interval, is something the therapist recommended as a means to “help them spend a bit less time on their fears,” she said. No, we will not provide answers or resolve issues, she stressed. We will just pay attention.
Additionally, she recommended that children wait until worry time to express their concerns and keep themselves “distracted by doing something entertaining or delightful.”