5 Tips For Keeping Your Kids Resilient During The Pandemic

• Schedule regular family huddles. Gather everyone in the house together in a circle on the floor with hot cocoa and have each person share one thing that’s been challenging and something that’s been positive about their day. (This encourages the sharing of thoughts and feelings, especially when feeling isolated.)

• Create Gratitude Lunches. Have each family member contribute to the lunch, whether it’s through setting the table, preparing the meal, or setting up zoom so friends or grandparents can join you. Then while you eat, have each person share a couple of items/people/experiences they are grateful for. (What you focus on expands.)

• Play the “How It Ends” Game. One person starts off by making up a story about how someone gets into trouble or has a tough time dealing with the pandemic. Then, the person to your right continues adding to the story. Go around to each person and make the story as exciting, interesting, or humorous as possible. Once it goes around a couple of times, give the story two different endings. The first ending should not turn out well. It’s the cautionary tale. The second ending should have the main character rise to the occasion, find an empowering solution, or turn something bad into something good. (This approach uses storytelling and problem solving to help kids turn lemons into lemonade.)

• Curing Boredom. If you’re feeling stressed or bored, write down what you would have to believe to feel this way. “I’m bored because there’s nothing to do.”
  

  Then ask yourself, “If I want to add more adventure to my day, what would I do?” “I supposed I could write letters to my friends, start an indoor garden, learn a healthy new recipe and surprise my family, or take an online Master Class.” (Find the belief behind the feeling and ask yourself an empowering question.)

• Lowering Anxiety with Self Hypnosis. Close your eyes, take slow breaths in through your nose, and imagine sending warm sunshine from a hot summer’s day into each muscle of your body. Then take your worries, place them in a box that you toss into the sea, and watch them float away. Finally, think to yourself, “I am safe, and every day I’m feeling happier and more at ease.” After a few minutes, open your eyes and enjoy the rest of your day.

Schedule these activities into your calendar so it actually happens and be consistent. For example, make Thursday evenings, Family Huddle night. Or start incorporating Self Hypnosis into the bedtime routine. Not only will this be wonderful for lowering anxiety and building resiliency in your kids, it will also have a profoundly positive impact on you!