Parenting in a Pandemic
From the (home) office of the School Psychologist
Holiday Edition
Weren’t we supposed to shut down for a “few weeks” back in March? Who could have predicted where we would find ourselves today, nine months into a global pandemic.
What most amazes me is how resilient humans are. In no time it seems that we’ve completely redefined how we conduct all of the business in our daily lives from running errands, to socializing, to how and where we work, and how we learn and educate.
One of my main takeaways from these last few months is how our words, attitudes, and expectations so directly impact the beliefs and emotions of our students and children. I truly believe that most of our children can accept and understand the challenges we are facing if we present it to them in reasonable and developmentally appropriate ways.
But our delivery makes all the difference. It’s fine to be disappointed with how this year is turning out and to share those feelings with our children. This can turn into such an important teaching moment for modeling how to acknowledge and deal with our disappointments. We can get angry and engage in destructive behaviors, or we can acknowledge our disappointments and fears, share our emotions, and talk about productive ways of dealing with these feelings. When our children see us modeling resiliency in the face of adversity, they will be far more likely to be able to respond in appropriate ways when things don’t work out in their favor in the future.
Here is a wonderful resource on helping children cope with the changes resulting from COVID-19 and the impact our own behavior has on how our children learn to face adversity.
It would be understandable right now to focus on all the things we are missing, especially with the holidays upon us. And for many of us there may have been great losses this year. But I hope we can also choose to seek out the bright spots. I’ve made a conscious decision to celebrate the small moments whenever I find them and to make sure to talk about these moments with my own son.
My greatest wish as we end 2020 is for continued physical and emotional health for you all. As always, the staff of D57 and I are here to support you and your families.
Amy Peters
School Psychologist