Seperation Anxiety

 Are you dealing with a child who has seperation anxiety?  One of the questions I received was from a mom who has a son in second grade that gets panicky every time he leaves for school.  She said that he's afraid that something bad is going to happen to her while he's gone.  The best way to deal with this kind of anxiety is to be sure to LISTEN to his fears.  No matter how they sound to you...they are real to him.  Tell him about your plans for the day so he can have a picture in his mind of where you are at a certain time.  Reassure him that you will be very careful to be safe (lock doors, not talk to strangers, etc).  Act as comforting and as  brave as you can when you put him on the school bus.  If he feels that you are worried or anxious about him, it will not help.  When he comes home from school, tell how good your day was.  When children think their parents are unhappy ,for any reason, it's common for them to have some degree of anxiety.  If you would like some personal coaching on anxiety, please contact me any time.  Thank you again for your questions.