It can be very easy to get excited about the news of a potential vaccine. We are all, no doubt, starting to think about life returning to normal, albeit not yet. But before you start to think about what you are going to do, you need to spare a thought for the children who haven’t fared so well. Some children are young enough that they won’t have any memory of this. But other children are just on the cusp of being old enough to have this stay in their minds forever. And with the fact that our kids have missed so much, in terms of school or their friends, the notion of coming back to reality after all this finally dies out can result in a lot of challenges and anxieties. But what can we do to help our children to truly experience re-entry into life following such a turbulent time?
Taking Small and Controlled Steps
Your children might have gone back to school, but there is a lot of uncertainty in the air, which they will inevitably pick up on. They are only socialising with their classmates and their teachers. As a result, they go from a bubble at home to a bubble at school. Reintegrating them back into a massive group can be scary and intimidating. Taking the small steps to integrate into society with small and controlled exposures will give you a better idea of how to make them feel more confident. The last piece of the puzzle would be to help them be more relaxed around people they don’t necessarily know, but that we trust. We may want to go out with our partners, and this could mean getting a babysitter or a relative to look after them for the night, which can be a big leap in terms of their trust. It’s a good idea to take it slow. There are resources like Childcare 4 Sale that you can use to find the right babysitter for your needs if there isn’t a grandparent around. Trust is going to be a big issue, especially around the people that are considered strangers to your kids. You may trust them, but you’ve got to be very slow in your steps.
Be Curious to Their Needs
When you are spending so long trying to limit your child’s exposure to what is going on in the COVID world, you can shield them way too much. It’s a very difficult balance to get right. And your children need to know about what is going on, but you have to be age-appropriate. Now there is the potential for life to return to normal within the space of a year or two, we have to remember that we can’t get our hopes up. But when our children have concerns about what is going on or they hear so much about the good news, we’ve got to truly engage with them and listen to their thoughts and feelings. When they hear so much about conflicting information, we have to learn how to manage their expectations, which is easier said than done. The best thing that we can do when they have issues or questions is to answer them as best as possible. We may not have the answers, especially as there is still so much up in the air, but if we can help them realise that their confusion is normal and other people are feeling the same way, this can help to normalise and validate what they are feeling.
Helping Them Plan a Transition
For most children, life is as normal as it can get right now. For many children in school, there has been an adjustment period. And this has become the new normal. But when our children get used to this, such as seeing teachers with face masks and only socialising with children in their class. When the glass ceiling gets broken and our children are allowed to do the things that were normal before the pandemic, it can be overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. We have to prepare them by putting a plan in place. Right now, with all of England under lockdown and anxiety in the air, it may seem a little bit enthusiastic to put a plan in place, but it’s something that can give us motivation and hope during these troubling times. We have to remember that we need to work with our children to plan nice things, but also make sure that it’s not too much for them. Asking our children what they would like to do makes it far easier. As much as we would like to take our children on holiday when this is done, the reality might be that it is too much for them. Give them the power and it’s likely that they will want to do something simple, like see their grandparents.
We have to remember it will take some time to truly adjust back to normality. For some people, they may never be able to go back to what life was like before the pandemic hit. The great thing about children when they are young enough is that they will take all this in their stride. But there are those who are old enough for it to have a significant impact on their frame of mind. Normality is quite a way away, but while we, as the parents, can’t wait for life to go back to the way it was, for our children, it can be a significant transition. It could cause a lot of anxiety because they are used to being with us and not many other people. And we have to remember that we can’t force them back into their old patterns, especially as they have changed so much since before all this happened. And as excited as we may be to see old friends and get back to the office, we’ve got to spare a thought for our children who have never been closer to us in proximity. Going back to normal might be great for us, but it may take some time for them to adjust to the old normal being the new normal.
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