Back to School Self Care for Parents and Teens

Abby Fosco

Yulia Naumenko / Getty Images

With the new school year swiftly approaching, parents and students will still be facing unique ways of learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Depending on your school district, both hybrid and 100% virtual learning have been presented as the new normal for the 2020/2021 school year.  No one can tell you what is right for your family.
 
If in-person options are available in your school district, masks will be mandatory and social distancing will be implemented. Virtual learning won’t be new territory for parents and students, since schools switched to virtual learning in the spring of 2020 to finish out the 2019/2020 school year. However, if your children have the option to go back to school in person, social distancing protocols will be new territory. Either way, approaching a new school season when we’re still amidst a pandemic can induce stress and unease for many.
 
With all of this in mind, our clinicians here at Mindful and Multicultural Counseling in Ewing, NJ developed tips and strategies for parents as their children begin their back to school journeys:
  
Nathalie Edmond PsyD, RYT-500 | Founder and Director of MMC 

• Create new expectations for this year based on current circumstances and not a typical year. Be willing to adapt as you learn new information.

 

• Identify what is absolutely needed, what would be nice, and what is not worth the stress.

 

• Prioritize your own emotional and self-care needs equally or even more than productivity.

 

• Recognize our bodies and brains are under stress as we process everything going on around us. Remember to treat each other tenderly.

 

• Expect mistakes and imperfection

 

• Immerse one’s self in the arts, music, creativity, and physical exercise to tap into a different part of your brain.

 Kristine Aguilar, MSW, LCSW 

• Create a daily schedule and stick to it. Routine, predictably, and structure reduces anxiety.
  
  
• If possible, do school work someplace other than the bedroom and definitely not while in bed. Train your brain that the bed is for sleep to help promote adequate sleep.
  
  
• Schedule 15-20 minute breaks from school work/screen time every couple hours. Go outside. Move your body.
  
  
• Get dressed each morning. Don’t stay in pajamas. Make your bed. This mentally prepares you to accomplish things for the day.

 
 Taryn Chase, MA, LPC, LCADC, NCC 

• Consistency is key! Keep a routine even if it’s short and simple.

 

• Recognize when you need to take a break and re-adjust your energy levels to get back to a place of comfort to resume previous activity

 

• Be kind to one’s self

 

• Communicate with teachers and don’t assume you have all the answers

 
 Lina Lewis-Arevalo MA, NCC, LPC, LCADC 

• Make friends with humor. It has a positive impact on mood, allows us to revisit and reset from an awkward moment, and when used appropriately, helps to bring people together.

Nadira Keaton, MS, LPC, LCADC, ACS, NCC 

• Schedule time for physical activity daily. Whenever possible, go outside and soak in the sun!

 
Marissa Mangual MS, LPC, NCC 

• [Having] open communication with children to discuss how these transitions are impacting them, or perhaps letting them know it’s okay or validating what they are experiencing.

 

• Parents [being mindful to avoid] stress and tension being projected/displaced on to their children.

 

• [Finding] balance in what is discussed in the home so stress is reduced.

 

• [Finding ways] to cope with unpredictability in order to prevent or reduce anticipation anxiety.

 
 Shashi Khanna, MSW, LCSW 

• [Practice] respect for everyone. People are reacting to COVID-19 and taking precautions in different ways. Teaching kids to be non-judgmental and respecting others’ situations and feelings is important.

Below is a video created by Dr. Nathalie Edmond for a local high school which addresses unique stressors we are experiencing as more discussions unfold about the Black Lives Matter movement and uncertainty persists around COVID-19. Tips for how we can reduce our vulnerability to stress are suggested.  Perhaps you and your child can watch it together to come up with a self-care plan.  If you need additional support throughout the year we are here for you.  Learn more about our team here at Mindful and Multicultural Counseling in Ewing, NJ. 

Other resources to support you:

• Check out anti-racism resources.  No matter where you are on your journey there are ways to learn on your own as well as virtual spaces.
• Listen to a guided meditation.  The one included here is a self care meditation centering Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).
• Check out other videos on our youtube channel to help you radically accept your current situation, cope with grief and loss, and learn more about how your brain responds to stress.