That’s a mouthful of a title, I know but I did feel it was important I wrote about the things that have helped Emma with her return to school anxiety.
Of course, first of all, an open and honest relationship with us, her parents is the most important. I have always encouraged Emma to speak about her worries and together we try to find solutions to what concerns her, be it a new teacher, playground squabbles or being on time in school but sometimes, I found that talking is the first step and extra assistance is needed.
So these are the things I have noticed that have helped in the last week and I thought I would share.
- Keeping busy before school with calming activities.
Emma was sent last week a beautiful parcel from Eat Sleep Doodle containing two pillow cases and a mini iPad case to colour in and have fun with. If you are new to the concept, these are high quality cotton products that come with wash out fabric pens, encouraging children to be creative and never worry about making a mistake while colouring in.
Emma has loved colouring in her seven wonders of the world pillow case each morning after breakfast and chatting to us about continents, special buildings and animals and I did find her much more relaxed going into school after a session of colouring in and nattering to us.
There are many exciting items that would appeal to children at Eat Sleep Doodle, I love the look of their doodle backpacks, aprons, placemats and especially the table cloth, how fun is that as a concept:
With prices starting at £10 for an iPad mini doodle case, the range is accessible to everyone and would be a very appreciated gift for all creative children out there!
2. Doing children’s yoga after school!
I was raised in church and for some reason, yoga had a bad name throughout my childhood and young adulthood and I never challenged those beliefs. But since losing Georgie, many of those beliefs got shifted and eliminated and since yoga had been mentioned by many grieving parents as a way to heal and release emotions, I decided to give it a go!
I joined in a yoga challenge at the beginning of the month and Emma showed a lot of interest in my exercises and seemed very keen to be part of it so when the following day, the new Cosmic Kids Yoga books landed in for a review, I took it as a positive sign.
Emma did two workouts since, following Jaime’s sensational videos on YouTube and loved every moment! I did sit with Emma and watched the programs myself and I loved how yoga poses have been adjusted and made into games by Jaime. Her two new books address important issues like finding one’s self-confidence and standing up to bullies but the workouts are perfectly adjusted to suit children’s physical abilities and emotional needs.
Emma loved her Frozen workout yesterday, fully recommend it to any fans of the movie! More importantly, she felt rejuvenated and relaxed afterwards, no afternoon slump nor any typical moodiness, amazing to see her coming into her own in such a way!
The workouts can be found on YouTube and are amazing! I admire Jaime’s passion and am grateful to her for such a great tool in growing children’s body strength and self-confidence.
The new books mentioned above will be released mid-September and will cost £8.99 on Amazon. They can be pre-ordered from now. I would recommend them as a parent and child workout, as some moves need modeled first and the story which goes with the exercise routine is better read by a grown up. Of course, for older children, they can be done individually, at one’s personal pace.
3. Worry Monsters: writing worries down before bedtime
I had heard about Worry Monsters from various sources, both from other fellow bloggers and from a local charity, called Angel Wishes, which works with children which have been affected by cancer, either personally or in a sibling.
The idea is quite simple: the child writes his or her worries on a piece of paper and places it into the monster’s mouth. The worry “disappears” overnight, as the parent removed the paper, and relieves the child of carrying the burden of that worry alone.
Emma got her Worry Monster as a gift from Angel Wishes last weekend and she did make use of it almost immediately. It was reassuring to see her pour her little heart out on paper and seeing her little face in the morning, when she discovered that the paper was no longer there and that she no longer had to worry about being late for school and so on.
The Worry Monsters sell on Amazon from £7.99 and are a great addition to the family.
Disclosure: we were gifted the books from Cosmic Kids Yoga and the items from Eat Sleep Doodle for the purpose of a review. The opinions expressed are truthful and entirely my own.
Mama's Haven 
I think the worry monster would be a good idea for my daughter as she tends to go to bed with lots of things swirling around her head and takes ages to get to sleep. Thanks for sharing.
What lovely ideas and a lovely post xx Thanks for these ideas – lots of cool ideas for Christmas pressies too xxxx
This is great. We have traditional guatemalan worry dolls but the monesters are cool too!
I think the worry monster is such a good idea I’ve not heard or seen these before.
I think the worry monsters are a great idea ive not heard of or seen them before
I think that yoga is such a good idea and I would have never considered it with kids! I’d really love some worry monsters for my boys, I think they’d really respond to them – such a clever concept 🙂
A beautiful photo of Alex and Emma. I’m glad that you got your Worry Monster and that it’s helping – they sound like a great idea!
I think some people mistakingly see yoga as religious in some way. I was shocked when one of the mums at H’s preschool objected to yoga on the grounds that it was a christian nursery. Couldn’t really see her point, but some people seem to think that way. Hope the Worry Monster is doing his stuff.
Worry monsters are brilliant – they helped my son massively when he was younger and we still have ours now although he’s happily retired 😉
Worry monsters are a great idea and my nephew has one and it has made such a difference to him x
Some lovely ideas here, especially the worry monsters. I haven’t heard of those before, but they’re such a great idea x
We have a worry monster and it has been fab. We have also made dream catchers which seem to have worked too
These are lovely ideas. We have worry monsters at home and they’re a great way to help children get something off their chest. Love the doodle table cloth! May have to get one of those 🙂
Such great tips – I love the sound of the Worry Monsters, what a great idea. Kaz
What great tips Oana, I hope that Emma has enjoyed the start of school x
Ah the worry monsters are such a cool idea! We have the colouring in picnic blanket and we love it!
These all look like great way to help ease anxiety before school. I especially like the idea of children’s yoga. xx
Those worry monsters are so adorable! Hope Emma has settled well now x