As we navigate our way through this unprecedented time, I find myself wondering more and more what the long term effect will be after this is all over. Obviously, there are no ways to predict all this – and there are many families, businesses, and communities that will forever be impacted. But one of the things I’ve been focusing on most is our children.
What will they remember about this time? How will they remember their parents acting? What will they learn from us on how to respond in a crisis? Will this period of heightened stress cause long lasting trauma for them? Will it spark increased anxiety in other areas of their life?
It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in a fear mindset. With news of the coronavirus available 24 hours a day, it can be tempting to make that the center of our lives. Letting fear and panic consume our thoughts. I urge you to make an active effort to avoid letting this fear consume you. While that heightened stress is terrible for you, think about the children in your life that are looking up to adults and learning how to respond in a crisis.
The constant fear triggers stress. Children are in their prime of learning how to appropriately respond to stress. If they learn now, to respond to a stressful situation with fear, panic, and anxiety – that is what they will continue to do moving forward. And that stressful situation will be something a lot less serious than the coronavirus in the future. If their body learns to respond to stress in this way, it will respond the same way when worried about an exam, or a fight with friends, or public speaking.
For our children (and for us too) it’s helpful to take active steps that empower them. What are they in control of right now? It might not seem like a lot. They can’t go to school, they can’t see their friends, they can’t participate in activities – so that can make it seem like nothing is in their control, and things are hopeless. Empower them to take action to make themselves stronger against what they fear. What steps can they take to make their body and their immune system strong and healthy, that if the worst case of them being exposed to this virus actually happens, they are strong and healthy to fight it off.
One of the things I ask my kids all the time… What 3 things does your body need to be strong and healthy? (Now this is very simplified – because they’re 6 and 3 – it needs to be simple) Our top 3 are: eat healthy foods, be active, and get adjusted. My hope is my kids are empowered by this. Even though there are some real threats out there that trigger fear – I want them to go back to the active steps they can take to combat this fear.
