Think About it Thursday: Anxiety
September 17, 2015 04:00 PM
How do you help your tot handle worry, doubt, fear, and/or anxiety?
Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster provides a great tool to identify and discuss worry or doubt, and the plush Whatif Monster helps your tot have someone or something take tell about those feelings. The Whatif Monster loves worries, so you can encourage your tot to give all her worries to the Whatif Monster.
In this book, Michelle Nelson-Schmidt gives you the opportunity to ask your tot questions that will help discover how to best support your child in times of anxiety. After you read through Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster, take a moment to ask your tot the following questions:
1. What makes you feel scared? Go through the book and ask your tot if any of those situations would make them nervous. This will almost certainly start a brainstorm. Consider writing them all down.
2. What do you think worries mommy and daddy? Discuss some of the things related to your child that give you anxiety i.e. wanting to keep her safe, keeping her healthy, helping her make good choices, etc…
3. What good things could happen when you put away your worry? Use the book again for brainstorming inspiration. What good things does Jonathan James think of?
4. What should you do if what you were worried about does happen? Help your child work through how she can cope with the possible negative outcomes. Remember empathy is key. Try not to invalidate her fears, but to understand and provide strategies for coping or conquering. When your child has confidence in how to handle a new situation, the worry tends to subside.
If you need a few tips on guiding your child through anxious moments, many have found this post on Hey Sigmund to be helpful. You can also check out the advice given on Aha Parenting.
After you have discussed your "whatifs," come up with a strategy to take those fears away. For some it may be creating your own whatif monster. For others it may be saying a special prayer or mantra or bible verse. You may decide to come up with a special signal that your tot can use to communicate to you that she is worried. You may even use a combination of these methods!
Tot 1 learned a song at VBS a few years ago, and we like to remind each other of it when we are feeling worried. It's simply a Bible verse, Philippians 4:6-7 put to a catchy beat, but we sing "Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done!"
Of course, telling her not to worry about anything could be considered invalidating, however, the point being that she shouldn't keep worry in her mind, but tell someone who will understand and give her peace. If you didn't watch the video, the song(and verse) goes on to say , "if you do this, his peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
Given that we have a catchy tune to sing in times of doubt, I still like the idea of having something concrete for tots to feel like they have cast their worries away. This means it's time for a project or a purchase. Having a Whatif Monster that looks just like the one in the book may be the right solution, but it might be fun to make our own! Stay tuned for an upcoming post in which we imagine what our voices of worry would look like.
In the meantime, enjoy your discussions with your tots, and don't forget to try new foods tomorrow for Foodie Friday! Whatif it is the best thing you ever tasted?!
Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster provides a great tool to identify and discuss worry or doubt, and the plush Whatif Monster helps your tot have someone or something take tell about those feelings. The Whatif Monster loves worries, so you can encourage your tot to give all her worries to the Whatif Monster.
In this book, Michelle Nelson-Schmidt gives you the opportunity to ask your tot questions that will help discover how to best support your child in times of anxiety. After you read through Jonathan James and the Whatif Monster, take a moment to ask your tot the following questions:
1. What makes you feel scared? Go through the book and ask your tot if any of those situations would make them nervous. This will almost certainly start a brainstorm. Consider writing them all down.
2. What do you think worries mommy and daddy? Discuss some of the things related to your child that give you anxiety i.e. wanting to keep her safe, keeping her healthy, helping her make good choices, etc…
3. What good things could happen when you put away your worry? Use the book again for brainstorming inspiration. What good things does Jonathan James think of?
4. What should you do if what you were worried about does happen? Help your child work through how she can cope with the possible negative outcomes. Remember empathy is key. Try not to invalidate her fears, but to understand and provide strategies for coping or conquering. When your child has confidence in how to handle a new situation, the worry tends to subside.
If you need a few tips on guiding your child through anxious moments, many have found this post on Hey Sigmund to be helpful. You can also check out the advice given on Aha Parenting.
After you have discussed your "whatifs," come up with a strategy to take those fears away. For some it may be creating your own whatif monster. For others it may be saying a special prayer or mantra or bible verse. You may decide to come up with a special signal that your tot can use to communicate to you that she is worried. You may even use a combination of these methods!
Tot 1 learned a song at VBS a few years ago, and we like to remind each other of it when we are feeling worried. It's simply a Bible verse, Philippians 4:6-7 put to a catchy beat, but we sing "Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done!"
Of course, telling her not to worry about anything could be considered invalidating, however, the point being that she shouldn't keep worry in her mind, but tell someone who will understand and give her peace. If you didn't watch the video, the song(and verse) goes on to say , "if you do this, his peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
Given that we have a catchy tune to sing in times of doubt, I still like the idea of having something concrete for tots to feel like they have cast their worries away. This means it's time for a project or a purchase. Having a Whatif Monster that looks just like the one in the book may be the right solution, but it might be fun to make our own! Stay tuned for an upcoming post in which we imagine what our voices of worry would look like.
In the meantime, enjoy your discussions with your tots, and don't forget to try new foods tomorrow for Foodie Friday! Whatif it is the best thing you ever tasted?!
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