Going back to school or starting a new school...or just starting school the first time for our littlest ones...is a mixed bag for kids and for their parents. The process and the thoughts about it are seasoned with excitement as well as creeping anxiety. What's a parent to do? For First Timers to Pre School... ...The start can be more emotion filled for the parent than for the child. After all, the child doesn't really know what to expect. The most challenging part is, of course, the … [Read more...] about Back to School for Toddlers to Teens
Separation
Smoothing the Re Entry into School
Some children are lucky enough to have already gone back to in-person school. But, sadly, many have not. Today the internet was alive with stories of more public schools soon being able to go back to in-person education. Hallelujah! While we would all love our children to run and jump headfirst into school, it may not be so easy for some. For each child and family it will be different. Age is not necessarily the determining factor. The re entry transition has more to do with your child’s … [Read more...] about Smoothing the Re Entry into School
Sleep-Away Camp Separations
Way back in February you sent in the deposit. Sleep-away camp, here we come! It was going to be fantastic—swimming in the lake, roasting marshmallows by the campfire, pillow fights in the cabin. Just weeks before opening day, your son’s excitement fills the air. I get to go away for two whole weeks! No school! No chores! No sister getting on my nerves! No parents to bug me! Then, as you’re ironing on the last of name labels, he wanders in and quietly asks, “What if I’m homesick?” Reality … [Read more...] about Sleep-Away Camp Separations
Is It Time For Sleep-Away Camp?
On a cold, February day it’s hard to believe that it's time to start thinking about summer programs. It’s also the time when I receive a barrage of questions about sleep away camp. Most commonly, what is the right age for a child to go to sleep-away camp. The good news is that there are no rules about when and if a child should go to sleep-away camp. It is only common sense that reigns. In fact, often it is the parent who has more trouble allowing her child to go than the child not … [Read more...] about Is It Time For Sleep-Away Camp?
Life is Full of Separations
The emails were all the same: “I just can’t stop crying…my daughter hasn’t even been gone for 24 hours, and I miss her already.” wrote the mother whose ten year old was off to sleep away camp for the first time. “The house is so quiet. At first I loved it, but now I am so ready for him to be home,” confessed the mother of a nine year old boy off to two weeks at camp in the mountains. You wonder if your child is really ready for sleep away camp, when the question really should be, are you … [Read more...] about Life is Full of Separations
Attachment, Regardless of Age
I don't know a person in the world whose breath was not taken away by the story of Jaycee Dugard's homecoming. Isn't it every parent's worst nightmare that her child will be stolen from her, never to be seen, hugged, kissed again? It' would be like someone reaching into your chest and pulling out your heart. Of all the press this story has gotten, of all the horror stories that continue to surface, of all the details that are being revealed, of all the insights that mental health workers have … [Read more...] about Attachment, Regardless of Age