COVID-19 is still at large, but life goes on, for better or worse. Most of us have been armed with multiple vaccine doses. Our children below the age of 12 are also slowly getting vaccinated, and for now that’s our best protection. Due to such successful immunisation efforts over the past two years, things are slowly opening back up.
For parents, it means going back to work full time; for kids, it means going back to school. It may be unnerving, allowing your children back into the big bad world on their own during COVID season, but it’s a necessary sacrifice. They need to know what it feels like to be children again, and to socialise with their fellow peers in school. But stepping out of the comfort and safety of your home can be stressful. Some of your kids may be coping fine with this new normal, but you as a parent may be struggling with your own fears and reservations. If this sounds like you, let’s look at some ways to help you calm those anxieties together, shall we?
How To Manage Back-to-School Anxiety as a Parent
Talk to Other Parents
Having a good support system is a good way of keeping anxiety in check. You’ve probably been networking in WhatsApp and Facebook groups these past few years. So, you may already have own trusted social circle to rely on for news about COVID-19. You may even be close friends with other parents whose kids go to the same school as yours. Take the opportunity to confide your fears and in turn ask about how the other parents are doing. This will help ease your anxieties about the school reopenings. While you’re at it don’t forget to talk to your spouse too. Who knows, they might be wrestling with their own fears and uncertainties too.
Optimise Your Mornings
Sometimes some parents may not be overly anxious about the virus but on separating with their kids. Separation anxiety is completely normal for both parent and child during first days of school. A sort of empty nest syndrome also sets in. Parents have been spending so much time with their kids indoors during the lockdowns. This makes it a bit hard to go back to the old ways. So, in order to not miss your child so much throughout the day, spend some time with them in the morning. Eat breakfast, exercise, watch some TV. Anything to pass the time before sending them off to school. Similarly, when you’ve returned from work, spend your evenings with them and catch up. Now that you don’t have much time to spend with them during the day anymore, every little precious second counts.
Sanitise Regularly
If your fears lean more towards safety, then ensure to maintain a regular sanitisation protocol. Ask them to shower immediately after school and wash their clothes. You can buy sanitisation sprays so you may sterilise their school bags as well. While we’re on this topic, make sure to equip them a durable face mask and a bottle of hand sanitiser—ensure they fully utilise them at all times when they are out. This way you’ll know they’ll be sufficiently protected in your absence.
Immunise Your Kids
Sending your kids off to the big bad world without any protection against the virus can be nerve wracking. Right now, kids between the ages of 5 to 12 are allowed to go for vaccinations. So if your children haven’t been immunised yet, now’s the time to do so. COVID-19 will probably be with us for a very long time so might as well arm them now for the future. Getting vaccinated is so important not only to stop the spread of the virus but also to reduce the risk of hospitalisations. Those who have been immunised are less likely to spread the virus if infected and may even be asymptomatic. Hence, if you’re scared of your kids potentially bringing the virus home with them, vaccination is the only sure step to making sure that doesn’t happen.
Talk With Your Kids on the Way to School
This of course only applies if you’re driving them yourself. If so, talk to them about any concerns they may have and in turn talk about your own fears. Parents rarely have deep, meaningful conversations with the kids nowadays. So take the extra 10 or 15 minutes each day on the ride to the school to talk with them. This may also help your child cope with their own anxieties about their first day back at school.
Educate Yourself
Fear comes from ignorance, so if you’re scared about the virus, learn more about it. It should come as no surprise how many of us may still be rather clueless about COVID-19 despite living with it for close to two years. Not to mention, with all the variants and recent scientific breakthroughs, it’s hard to keep track of all the latest advancements. It’s important to know how contagious each variant is and how aggressive.
Buy Matching Stationeries
It’s a strange advice, but for years loved ones have worn or used matching items (usually jewellery) to cope with long distance relationships. Having an item representing a loved one that you can wear or carry around on your person helps keep them close to you in your heart. Of course, this also depends on your child’s school policies. Our local schools typically don’t allow their students to wear jewellery to school. However, the item doesn’t necessarily need to be jewelry. You can buy matching watches or stationeries. Holding said item close to you will always remind you of your child and keep them safe in your thoughts. Almost as if they are right there with you. If your child is facing his own back-to-school anxieties, they can do the same with their counterpart of the matching item.
Embracing the New Normal
Parental stress and anxiety have skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic two years ago. Common stressors include changes in routine, worry over the coronavirus, and virtual learning demands. As new anxieties have taken the place of old ones, we can now hopefully expect a decline in COVID-related parental stress. And while adapting to the new normal may come with its own set of anxieties, worry not as everything ought to fall into place as the weeks go by. Hang in there, mummies! You’re doing great!
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