Everyone gets scared. Fear is a primary emotion signaling that we are in danger, essentially ensuring our survival from a hostile situation. Although it can be overridden by our executive functions, some fears can’t be shaken, no matter how irrational they are. This is especially true for kids. Despite how trigger-happy their fear response is to the most random things, it’s all part of their growth and development.
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October is the season for all things scary. It’s the one time of year where skeletons, ghosts, and ghouls are commonplace, scary stories and movies are celebrated, and jump scares are permitted. Although Halloween can be a terrifying experience for some, others embrace the satisfying horror of it all. Why would your child would want to go the most decked-out, creepy house or want to hear a torturous tale before bed? It’s fun.
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Every October, people flock to the pumpkin patch to find the perfect gourd to slice into to become a Halloween jack-o’-lantern. What kind of sick tradition is this? I mean, what did a pumpkin ever do to deserve this? Turns out this Halloween tradition was brought to us by European immigrants, dating back to a centuries-old Irish tale of a man named Stingy Jack.
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The first few weeks of school can be a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde situation. Your kid’s teacher tells you they’re doing great at school, making friends, paying attention, all that good stuff. But that’s not what you see when you get home. In fact, you get quite the opposite (screaming, crying, perfect storms). So, what in the T. Swift is going on?
Turns out that these fits and meltdowns are typical, so typical that it even gets its own special name: After-school restraint collapse. Originally coined by counselor and parenting expert Andrea Loewen Nair, it refers to a child’s emotional, mental, and physical release once their school day is over. School is regimented with rules to follow and lessons to learn, plus picking up all the social cues and expectations from classmates and teachers; all requiring mental stamina and self-control. So once our kids hop in the car or get off the bus, they start to decompress in whatever form they see fit.
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School’s been out for summer and now, so is your kid’s schedule.
For those couple months of warm weather, kids are engaged with family vacations and camps, but there is still a lot of down time. Although everyone deserves a well-earned break, it can be difficult for kids to get back into the swing of things, especially when their new school year is just around the corner. It’s not entirely their fault though. The summer can dysregulate our children without even trying.
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Child(ish) Advice 