School starting...

The first day of school can be anxiety-producing for kids and parents. Kids headed to Pre-K may be anxious about being away from a parent. Parents may worry if their little one is alright. For older kids, there is the need to pick just the right back-to-school outfit for the first day and so parents spend hours in clothing stores shopping for it with their children. By high school, the first day is all about what kids did over the summer.

Now throw in the pandemic, especially the Delta variant into the mix. For some parents and kids, anxiety turns into dread of “Will the schools go remote again?” and “When can I plan to return to the office?”

“The risk the coronavirus poses to an individual child is still very low—fewer than 1 percent of sick kids need ICU treatment—and with millions of the most vulnerable adults now vaccinated, the danger of kids bringing the virus home from schools is also much reduced from last year. But Delta will make for a bumpy school year even without very sick kids. Students who get infected or even just exposed at school will have to miss classes to isolate or quarantine for seven to 14 days at a time. And if cases truly get out of control, schools will have to shut down and return to remote learning. Parents will again have to scramble for last-minute child care.” —Ariana Zhang, The Atlantic

A friend of mine whose daughter goes to a charter school in NYC said that the day after the heavy rain this past week, the school was remote. My daughter pointed out that snow days are a thing of the past. The pandemic taught school systems across the country and the world, that kids can learn remotely. However, the learning part according to some experts is suspect and they speculate that kids may have lost a year to a year and a half of learning.

“The challenges [of the delta variant] offer a preview for some of the country’s largest districts that are opening in the coming weeks, keeping parents in suspense over whether they’ll be able to return to a regular workday themselves. A further complicating factor in the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, particularly among the unvaccinated, is that kids under 12 remain ineligible for inoculation in the U.S.” — Nic Querolo and Bloomberg, Fortune

The schools in NYC haven’t opened yet and like a lot of other parents awaiting the reopening of schools, I am praying that they do. Some schools have already shut due to exposure and sent kids back to online learning. Oy! This wait-and-see game is anxiety-producing for parents and kids alike.

So how as parents can we deal with this anxiety and help our kids to deal as well. In a “normal world,” you would start prepping your children two weeks before the start of school about the return (Hopkins Medicine), do some dry runs to show them the route, maybe do a playdate with a classmate, get school supplies and remind them to breathe. These tactics may work, but you may need to stack your arsenal with more because of the pandemic. First and foremost, check your temperature, parents. If you’re anxious, work on getting calm before your help your child.  Remember we are all going through this so cut yourself (and your children) some slack.

Want to help your child cope? Listen and Listen and Listen. Let your child tell you how they feel and just listen. Kids just like adults crave being social. If possible, plan covid safe playdates. Picnic in the park? Ice cream on the pier? An afternoon at the playground? Also, teach your kids coping mechanisms such as breathing, reciting positive affirmations, and/or visualizing a calm place (Jessica Cerretani, Boston Children’s Hospital). You can do these together—make it a family thing.

So the pandemic at the moment isn’t fading fast, so for ourselves and our children, we need to cut some slack, remember to breathe, and listen with intent.