When my daughter was in kindergarten she her anxiety was so intense when going to school, that the principal had to meet us in the front of the school and escort her to class. One time, her anxiety was so bad that she kicked the principal in the shins, screaming her head off all the way to class. As a mom, that was devastating. I could hear her screaming from the school parking lot, and I would sit in my car and cry all the way home. It was so awful.

If you are walking through back to school anxiety with your child, I want you to know, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.

In this blog post, you will find some easy strategies and tips we implemented that really helped our daughter and our home to feel more peaceful and calm.

We are so grateful that after applying these practices and tips, that she is well adjusted and goes to school with no problem at all!

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Back to School Anxiety- Try some of these things:

Basic needs -

This can be easy to overlook because it seems too easy, but sometimes is the simple things are what can make the biggest difference when you do them consistently. I learned about how important it is to look at our basic needs from Therapist Lisa Lewis, one of our podcast guests, who taught how to handle big emotions.

Ask yourself, is my child getting enough:

Sleep

Do they have a regular bedtime and enough hours of sleep? Sleep is when our bodies and mind heal and refresh. It’s so important.

Hydration

Our bodies are make mostly of water. Having the proper hydration- lots of water, not soda or other drinks, can play a big part.

Healthy Foods

Eating too much sugar was a huge trigger for my daughter. It would cause her stomach aches to get much worse.

Is caffeine making the problem worse? Reducing or eliminating caffeine can help their body and mind, as the stimulating affects can intensify anxiety.

Redirection

As a mom of 7, I was surprised when something that worked with my kids when they were throwing a tantrum as toddlers, also helped when they were feeling a lot of anxiety. This is something I try after I have had time listening to their thoughts and feeling. The idea is to slowly shift their brain forward.

Here are something you can try:

plan something they get to look forward to after school- maybe grabbing a soda or some ice cream
Bake chocolate chip cookies together, or mix up one of our bundt cakes!
Invite a friend over
Go for a walk
Do a water color project - we love the Lily & Thistle tutorials! (for $50 OFF, use code: HAPPY
Make their favorite dinner

doing service

This can be a similar philosophy as the redirection, but it is different in that the underlying intention is instead of doing the things the child suffering from anxiety wants to do, you are teaching them to look outward, feel love or sympathy for someone else.

Here are some ideas:

make dinner for a friend who just had a baby or surgery
bring caramel apples to school teachers
make thank you notes and bring them to your local firefighters or police station
make a blanket to donate to a friend who has cancer or to a hospital
call and talk to an elderly relative or friend
use sidewalk chalk and write kind messages to cheer on or cheer up a friend
offer to walk a neighbor’s dog
sweep leaves or shovel snow for a neighbor

We have lots of great service ideas for you in this podcast episode from our archives. You can also check out JustServe.Org for volunteer projects in your local area.

click here for our caramel apple recipe

back to school dinner

Every year we have a back to school dinner with simple surprises, talk about our new family theme for the school year and reminisce about our favorite summer memories. We end it with a chat about what the kids are looking forward to most in the upcoming school year.

It takes the focus off the dread and fear, and anchors the new year in something hopeful and fun! Check out this short video to see some of the things we put in their little gift boxes!

I loved chatting with Jenn Lofgren about her family’s Back to School dinner traditions on our podcast.

Five senses

Lastly, I want to touch on a practice I learned from our friend, Therapist Niki Olsen, also a guest on our podcast. Niki teaches us how to reconnect the mind and body through using our 5 senses. This is something you can practice with your kids at home, so that when they are away from you, they have something they can do to find some peace on their own.

It’s very simple! All you do is take a minute to check in with your five senses:

Sight - what are 5 things they can see?
Hear- what noises do they notice around them? There are usually dozens of noises around us all the time
Smell - What can they smell? Can they pick out more than one?
Taste- even if your child can’t eat in the moment, is there something they can imagine tasting? Like a sour lemon or smooth chocolate frosting?
Feel- what is the ground like under your feet? What are you touching with your hands?

It’s amazing to see how this simple exercise can help our brains and emotions recenter.

We’ve had Niki Olsen on our podcast several times. Here are some of our favorites, I think you’d enjoy!

Have you tried any of these things? What has worked for you? Let us know in the comments! I love hearing new ideas.