It s natural and expected for children to experience anxiety around the transitions of the coronavirus pandemic.
“After any disaster or traumatic experience, while the wish and hope is for a rapid return to ‘normal,’ the psychological and emotional aftermath greatly exceeds the more defined boundaries of the trauma itself,” said Dr. Ilisse Perlmutter, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Talkiatry in New York City.
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“Children’s reactions may appear immediately… or may not appear for days, weeks, even years. We also need to remember that innumerable children and adolescents lost parents, grandparents and other loved ones during this pandemic. The resulting grief and anxiety can take many forms, and recovery, or moving forward from these losses, is not necessarily correlated with a return to life as it was before.”
JGI/Jamie Grill via Getty Images
It s natural and expected for children to experience anxiety around the transitions of the coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus pandemic has presented countless challenges to children from an academic, social and mental health perspective. But the shift back into more “normal” ways of life can also be difficult for kids.
Of course, we’re not exactly in a post-pandemic world (especially for children younger than 12 who have yet to gain access to any COVID-19 vaccines) as concerns rise about case counts and highly contagious variants. But there’s no doubt things seem different this summer, with camp, travel and back-to-school preparations in full swing. And even these positive changes can be challenging and anxiety-provoking.
Spanking Your Kids Likely Does More Harm Than Good Here Are 7 Things To Try Instead Erin Bunch
Spanking may be on the decline in America, but it s far from obsolete.
JAMA Pediatrics reports that 15 percent fewer parents spanked their kids in 2017 than they did in 1993, but many moms, dads, and caregivers continue to believe that children should be spanked. (I was! Were you?!?) If you re someone who believes in spanking your kids, you re likely not alone. But a new analysis of over 69 studies on the subject makes a compelling argument for putting this corporal punishment behind you.
The review, published this past June in the journal
How to Detox Kids From Their Screens
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Photo: somsak nitimongkolchai, Shutterstock
When the pandemic hit last year, the first thing many parents did was abandon any rules they had in place about screen time. It’s not because the pandemic made us lazy parents; it’s because so many of us suddenly needed to work in the same spaces where our children were learning, playing, and arguing with each other.
Their sports, clubs, and after-school activities were cancelled and we weren’t yet sure how the virus even spread, let alone how to get our kids together safely with friends for socially distanced, outdoor playdates. So for many of our kids, tablets and smartphones became their lifeline to their friends one of the few ways they could connect to the outside world that the pandemic hadn’t taken away. We let them log on, and before we knew it, extra screen time became
How to Introduce Your Toddler to Their Baby Sibling
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Photo: Anna Nahabed, Shutterstock
While expecting a baby can be an exciting time, if you’ve already got a toddler at home you’re probably wondering how to handle the addition of a new family member without making your older kid feel displaced. There are ways to prepare, though, throughout the pregnancy and in those early days, weeks, and months to help your toddler acclimate to their new role of big sibling.
Use simple language and do some role playing
The welcoming of a baby sibling into the family is going to be a pretty abstract topic for any toddler, so the key from the beginning will be to use simple, straightforward, matter-of-fact language and there are any number of board books you can find to help you get started. But remember that time has little meaning to a toddler, so you might want to wait until you’re far enough into the pregnancy that it doesn’t feel like an eternity to t