FRIDLEY, Minn. — If your child isn't back in school already, they will be soon and for many students that means back to in-person learning. It can be exciting, but also can be a big change.
Therapist Autumn Phenow with M Health Fairview says when adjusting to a new routine, sticking to a schedule is important for your child's brain development.
"[It's important for] being able to stay emotionally regulated and looking forward to being in the present moment," she said.
The present moment includes sticking to back-to-school traditions: school supply shopping, clothes shopping, talking about their new teacher.
"Rather than with everything going on right now and they start to spiral and go down that rabbit hole where we can't predict the future," Phenow said.
Speaking of that rabbit hole, watch how far you as a parent travel down it.
"I think it's really important that parents are watching what they're saying around their kids," Phenow said. "Kids are going to mirror their parent's anxiety and they're really going to mirror their behaviors and/or how they feel about something."
Phenow suggests letting your child guide conversations. Ask them what they're worried about, then help work through it by asking this question: And then what?
Phenow gives an example:
"Okay, so you missed an assignment. You now think you're not going to college. Well, how about what can we do? Let's email the teacher. And then what's going to happen? He or she is going to email me back. And then what's going to happen? I'll probably get to do the assignment. And then what's going to happen? You're probably going to college and you're going to pass it," she explained. "It finds a solution to their problem and they don't go down this rabbit hole of anxiety."