Managing anxiety

Anxiety is a tough one, it's something that I've dealt with my whole life, and now I see in the kiddos. While I've learnt (mostly) to deal with and manage it, it's hard with kids who are experiencing it for the first time or at a bigger scale. The feelings can be so big and unidentifiable (unlike happy or sad or mad). 

We've officially entered into our high school era, which brings all sorts of new challenges. From getting older, to friends, to higher demands at school, there are some many changes. I think the biggest thing for me when trying to help my teen acclimate to all of these new changes, is to be hyper-aware of where she's at and how she's feeling and doing my best to use very uncritical language.

Figuring out how to manage the anxiety has been a really tough thing, especially when she really doesn't like to talk about her feelings. High school brings the higher demands which puts added pressure on the perfectionist kid. There is also the addition of public speaking... I don't envy any kids in this! Public speaking can be daunting for lots of people, but, it's highly anxiety inducing especially for those who have a hard time with being perceived.

So, how do we help them to keep their anxiety in check, not worry so much about what other people think, all while meeting the requirements of their assignment? Please, let me know if you find the magic solution! For us, she knows the support is there, she's very prepared, and with a few tips, I hope she'll feel confident. I have this fidget spinner ring (it's in 2 layers where the top one spins) so I left it out for her today. I told her she could wear it if she wanted to, because, I love to have it when I'm public speaking or out in a social setting where I'm not 100% comfortable, because it gives me something to do with my hands which in turn helps to turn off my brain a little bit and stops the mile a minute thoughts. So, she's equipped with that and knowing that she doesn't have to worry about how it goes (because I don't care about her grades), to do her best and present like it's just her and her friends in the class.

Fingers crossed she has great day.