How to Cope with Back to School Stress - By Debbie Mandel

The school year presents an opportunity for a fresh start, getting together with old and new friends, new accomplishments and exciting activities - a measure of growth. A new vibration can be felt in the air.

Instead, in a lot of households anxiety, stress and even sadness reign. Parents need to bribe their Kids with fancy knap sacks, jazzy school folders and lunch boxes, not to mention the back-to-school clothes to take the sting out of returning to school.

The problem with school, any level from pre-school to college, is labeling. Children wear their scarlet letter grades as not good ges of honor or shame. Early in their education Kids are labeled B-Student, C ? Student, ADD, AD/HD, LD, OCD, Obese, etc. Once a child is labeled, expectations seem to fall in line with that label. Ironically in spite of the labels parents harbor unrealistic expectations and become disappointed. The Kids absorb that disappointment and live down to the lesser image. They begin to feel inexplicably unhappy and irritable eroded by teachers and parents. Children soon experience stomachaches, headaches, insomnia and more frequent colds.

The start of a new school year provides an opportunity for a new spiritual beginning, a change in perception. At this very moment parents need to create a home environment conducive to empowerment and the philosophy of the little engine that could. Parents need to choose to see their Kids in a positive light. Affirm them even in thoughts because Kids are mind readers. We need to stop anticipating their worst, and visualize their best. They will respond by being happier, healthier and the best that they can be - now. So, if your child does not get the lead in the play, don?t look at him or her with anxious eyes. Instead listen to what your child is really saying: ?Mom, I was chosen to clap and cheer in the audience.?

Here are some suggestions to take the stress out of school as you assist your Kids build up self-esteem:

• Start now to get those late summer bedtimes in line with early school mornings. Children need to get their sleep. Begin to taper down about a half hour each day to reach a reasonable bedtime. Stick to it. The key to good sleep is regularity. Establish a bedtime ritual such as: milk and crackers, a story, a bath, or a discussion of the day?s events. Every child is different. Some Kids relax after a bath while others are stimulated.
• Prepare tomorrow?s clothes the evening before. This time saver will reduce morning stress.
• Set up an in-binquire about et and an out-binquire about et similar to those in an office. Your Kids will place their homework assignment sheets in the in-binquire about et when they come home and then place completed assignments in the out- binquire about et later in the evening. When they leave in the morning, they just have to pick up their work from the binquire about et and they are good to go.
• Make sure your Kids eat a healthy, balanced breakslowly ? even if it is on the run. Cut out sugars and white processed foods. Sugary sodas are on the forbidden list. Children who eat a wholesome breakslowly control their weight good and gain knowledge or skills good at school.
• Make sure your child does some exerci se daily even for 15-20 minutes. The benefits include: shedding stress, feeling happier and having more focus for homework.
• Don?t over-schedule your Kids with extracurricular, after school activities. This stresses you out as you rush to drive them from activity to activity and they feel overwhelmed without any quiet, free time.
• Post affirmations around the house for your Kids to see. Even good : select those quotes together and encourage your Kids to decorate them.
• Try to respect your Kids and avoid confrontation. Communicate calmly and specifically what you would like them to do. Because if you put them on the defensive with the blame game, they will shut down and ultimately feel unhappy about disappointing you.
• If there are special gain knowledge or skills ing problems or social issues, visit the school to speak to teachers, guidance counselors and the principal. Be your child?s advocate and let him or her know that you are. Be involved and visit periodically. The school and parents should not be engaged in a tug of war. You are all on the same side.
• If you cannot greet your Child s when they come home from school because you are at work, remember to call them. Children love to talk on the phone and you can connect with them. Have healthy, attractive looking snacks like colorful cut-up fruit available in the fridge, or layer a sundae glass with low fat yogurt and berries. Top it with a cherry. No child will cut up a cantaloupe.
• Eat dinner with your Kids to bond with them and share each other?s day.
• See your life as a sit-com and laugh.

Developing a Holiday Visitation Schedule That Works! - By Holly Pedersen, Ph.D.

Developing a Holiday Visitation Schedule?

That Works!

In our experience working with divorced and separated parents here at Talk Works, one of the biggest challenges they face is sharing custody during the holidays. Understandably, both parents want to spend holidays with their Kids ? while sharing this time with an ex-spouse or partner may feel impossibly painful, particularly if there are lingering feelings of anger or sadness about the end of the marriage or relationship. Unfortunately, anger over the divorce or separation can prevent parents from being able to successfully work together in the best interest of their Kids , including being able to establish a workable visitation schedule that allows the Kids to spend time with both parents during the holidays.

In order to avoid conflict and stress about the visitation plan during the holidays, we suggest trying the following:

1. Separate your feelings about the divorce or separation from the visitation plan.

You may be feeling angry at your ex for what happened during or at the end of the relationship. However, it is EXTREMELY important that you not attempt to punish him or her by withholding time with the Kids . Regardless of how you feel about your ex, your Kids need and deserve to have both parents in their lives.

2. Continually ask yourself: Are these the kinds of memories I want to create for my Kids ? This question will enable you to stay focused on what is most important: your Kids and their well-being. Too often in our work, we have heard a fully developed person from maturity onward s from divorced homes describe their own childhood holiday memories as being painful and stressful due to their parents? ongoing conflicts and fighting about the custody and visitation issues. Research indicates that what is most damaging about divorce and separation to Kids is this ongoing parental conflict. If you find yourself continually fighting with your ex ? especially if this is happening within earshot of your Kids ! ? STOP and ask yourself if these are the kinds of memories you want to create for your Kids . Remind yourself that these experiences will shape their views of childhood and will impact their own relationships in a fully developed person from maturity onward hood. It is in your power to raise Kids who will become happy and healthy a fully developed person from maturity onward s!

3. Treat your ex like a business colleague whose business you want.

You don?t have to love or even like your ex-spouse or partner. However, you do have to continue to ?co-parent? with him or her, which means finding a way to have at least minimal interaction regarding your Kids . If interaction with your ex is strained or emotionally volatile, it is time to re-define your connection and establish a new way of communicating that takes the emotional element out of the exchanges. Experiment with treating your ex as a business colleague whose business you want. Remember that you don?t need to like your business colleagues; instead, you need to treat them with enough respect that an effective working relationship is established. Other ways to take the emotional element out of exchanges include communicating by telephone or email rather than in person, and establishing ground rules for exchanges, such as limiting all communication to matters regarding the Kids (i.e. rather than rehashing relationship, divorce or break-up issues).

4. Compromise! (For the sake of your Kids !)

Of course, we can?t talk about establishing a shared holiday visitation plan without mentioning compromise! Yes, it is obvious that compromising is necessary, but parents who are in the midst of an all-out battle over sharing holiday time can easily forget this. Compromise doesn?t mean sacrificing your time with your Kids during the holidays; instead, it means you get creative about how to share holiday time. For some holidays, it may make the most sense to alternate every other year ? for example one of you spends Thanksgiving with the Child s in ?even? years (2004, 2006, etc) and the other one spends Thanksgiving with the Child s in ?odd? years (2003, 2005, etc). For other holidays, it may be possible to ?split? or share the time each year. For example, for Christmas perhaps you will celebrate with the Kids on December 24th and your ex will celebrate with the Kids on December 25th. Maybe you will want to establish this as the tradition every year, or you may want to alternate this schedule every other year so that one year you have the Kids on December 24th and the next year you have them on December 25th.

Keep in mind that compromising may involve establishing new traditions for your Kids . A lot of parents try to continue long-standing holiday traditions after a divorce or separation, and find that these traditions no longer work if Kids are going back and forth between two households. Don?t make the mistake of holding onto traditions that no longer fit your life-style and current arrangement. This can cause a great deal of stress and frustration! What matters most is not what, when and where the tradition is, but rather that there is a fun tradition that makes holiday time with your family special. This is a great opportunity to put your creativity to use! You might want to enlist the assist of your Kids in developing these traditions to make them even more meaningful.

5. Focus on Your Role and Responsibility in Your ?Co-Parenting? Relationship

As you know, you have no control over your ex-partner?s actions. For this reason, it is a waste of valuable time and energy focusing on what your ex-partner is or ?should? be doing. For instance, rather than focusing on how your ex-partner is not willing to compromise on a particular holiday, focus your attention on the ways you can compromise in this area. If your ex-partner refuses to compromise on spending this Thanksgiving with the Kids , for instance, be the one to make the compromise. For example, propose that if he or she has the Kids for Thanksgiving this year, then you will have the Kids on New Year?s Eve this year, and the next year you will reverse this schedule. If the 50% of the relationship that you are responsible for is filled with compromise, stress-free communication and positive interactions, you are bound to see your ex-partner?s 50% of the relationship start to reflect the same characteristics.

So, rather than focusing on how your ex-partner?s past actions mean he or she doesn?t deserve to see the Child s, focus your attention on how you can assist your Kids adjust to the divorce or separation and what you can do to meet their emotional needs during this challenging transition. Take responsibility for what you can do to create a working co-parenting relationship with your ex-partner. After all, this is the only thing you have control over!

If the above suggestions are still not enabling you and your ex-partner to successfully co-parent and share time with your Kids , we recommend you seek the assistance of a Marriage and Family Therapist, Mediator, or other skilled professional experienced in assisting parents with communication and custody conflicts. The professionals at Talk Works are specifically trained and experienced in assist ing parents gain knowledge or skills new communication and conflict resolution skills. In addition, our knowledgeable staff can provide you with referrals to attorneys and child custody mediators who will assist you in establishing a workable holiday visitation schedule.

All of us at Talk Works wish you happy holidays and successful co-parenting!

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