Let’s be honest: sometimes, the first day of school is harder for moms than it is for the kids. Here are some tips to ease the anxiety of sending your child to school.
Saturday, August 18, 2018
In two days, my baby boy will start pre-k. He is my first, so this is my first child to send off to school. I have never had to take him to daycare because I have been blessed enough to stay home with him.
I’m not handling this very well at all. I knew it would be hard and was already bracing myself for it, but this is terrible. I know it is a right of passage. It is a must. The importance of education is not lost on me. My degree is in Elementary (EC-6) Education, so my rational brain totally gets it!! Folks, my emotional mommy brain is overriding my rational brain. I’m already trying to figure out ways to get him out of this!
THEN, I look at him, and he is so excited!! He talks about Peanut Butter, the classroom pet rabbit, every day since we went to Meet the Teacher. He needs this. I can’t wait for him to start making good friends and learning so many new things. He is so smart and I can’t wait to watch his knowledge grow. I just didn’t expect it to hurt this much. My heart breaks watching him grow further and further away from me. How did this happen so quickly? People tell me all the time, “enjoy it. It goes by fast,” and I listen, but it does. It really goes like a blink of an eye. He was my little peanut in my belly and now he is going off to school.
Tips to Ease the Anxiety of Sending Your Child to School
Make time to be alone.
Sometimes, as parents, we have to allow ourselves to have an ugly cry. Try not to cry in front of your children, but it is more than ok to have a moment for yourself. Emotions are normal.
Turn anxiety to excitement.
It is more than normal to have anxieties about your child starting school. However, turn those anxieties into excitement. The more you are “excited” with your child then the more the anxiety tends to dissipate.
Don’t be too hard on yourself.
It is always important to remember not to judge other parents, well that extends to yourself too. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you are having a difficult time letting go.
Stay busy.
Stay busy and it will make the day go by much faster. Find a new hobby or take this time to do something you have always wanted to do, but never had the time for.
Remember they will always need you.
Remember they will always need you and it is important to be their rock. They will play off of your emotions. So if you are feeling anxious they will start to feel anxious.
So he still needs me and looks for me when he is sad, scared, or hurt. My son still reaches out for my hand, even when he is asleep, on the couch next to me, his hands always find mine. And for this very reason, I will keep my sadness, my fears, and my heartbreak to myself because he looks to me for reassurance.
I will not pass my emotions on to him because I want him to be excited and I want him to look forward to new adventures and not be afraid of change. So I will smile for him. I will burden myself with his fears so that he doesn’t have to and to allow him to keep his innocence as long as he possibly can. I will do this because I am his mommy and he deserves to start this new adventure, even if my heart breaks so that his heart doesn’t have to.
“The mother-child relationship is paradoxical and, in a sense, tragic. It requires the most intense love on the mother’s side, yet this very love must help the child grow away from the mother, and to become fully independent.” Erich Fromm
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“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31
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