![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Numbers.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWe all know from Health classes at MCA that I reinforce with the children five important things to stay healthy: wash your hands, brush your teeth, take a deep breath, eat more fruits and vegetables,<\/em> and exercise<\/em>.\u00a0 If you are in Elementary, we add #6, which is to go to bed and get more sleep<\/em>. \u00a0Your children hear me repeat these reminders, and we sing songs about these things at the beginning of each Health class.<\/p>\n Well, now I have a list of five things to think about as we move through this pandemic.<\/p>\n Children look to adults for guidance on how to react to stressful events.\u00a0 This is a tremendous opportunity for adults to model for children problem-solving, flexibility, compassion, kindness, and healthy habits as we balance work, household chores, school work, and keeping tabs on family. \u00a0Here are my top five recommendations for taking care of yourself and your family during this very stressful time:<\/p>\n 1, Turn off the TV.<\/strong> The 24-hour news cycle is too much.\u00a0 If you must, sit down and watch only the evening news or the morning news. \u00a0We all want to stay informed, but if the news makes you nervous or causes you anxiety, turn it off, especially before bed. \u00a0If your children see the news programs or the newspaper headlines, reinforce the things that you as a family have some control over. \u00a0Tell your children, \u201cWe are staying healthy by staying home.\u00a0 We are staying healthy by washing our hands.\u00a0 If we do go out, we wear masks so we don’t share our germs.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 Amidst the scary news, point out all the community helpers helping those who are sick and keeping us safe. \u00a0If your children saw long lines at the food pantry, let them pack up a few food items to donate and drop them off together.\u00a0 Help your children understand some of the information that is shared in the news as appropriate. \u00a0For example, practice social distancing when you go for walks so your children know what the words \u2018social distancing\u2019 mean and what they need to do. \u00a0Show your children what 6 feet looks like with a piece of rope.\u00a0 Keep telling your children why these things are important, why they work, and why they keep us safe.<\/p>\n 2. Watch for signs of stress and anxiety in your home<\/strong>. Is your child regressing? \u00a0Had your child been sleeping through the night but now is coming into bed with you or having bad dreams?\u00a0 Is your potty-trained child having accidents?\u00a0 Stomachaches, headaches, a constant battle for your attention, or whining can all be signs that your child is stressed. \u00a0This is the time for extra one-on-one attention, snuggles, hugs, and love. \u00a0Keeping regular routines and schedules can be reassuring, calming, and can provide a sense of control.\u00a0 Are your children worried about grandparents?\u00a0 Let them call or video chat to reassure and connect with loved ones.\u00a0 If you have to work outside your home, are your children worried about you going to work?\u00a0 Tell them you are safe at work, and mention the things you do to stay safe. \u00a0Reassure your children that you are all doing whatever you can to make sure they are safe and that everyone will get through this together.\u00a0 Is your child worried about getting sick?\u00a0 Emphasize that most people who get COVID-19 get better, and remind your children of all the things they do to stay healthy.\u00a0 Side note: Washing your hands, brushing your teeth, taking a deep breath, eating fruits and vegetables, exercising, and getting enough sleep all support a healthy immune system. \u00a0So all those things they\u2019ve heard from Nurse Bliss really are important and helpful!<\/em> \u00a0Offering guidance on what your children can do to prevent infection offers them a greater sense of control, and having some control reduces anxiety. \u00a0Recognize their feelings, and help them talk their way through negative or scary feelings. \u00a0Children often imagine situations as worse than what they are in reality, so offering developmentally appropriate facts can reduce fears. \u00a0Ask \u201cWhat are some of the things you are worried about?\u201d and \u201cWhat can we do right now to make you feel better?\u201d \u00a0How you discuss COVID-19 can either increase or decrease your child’s fear.\u00a0 Touch base with your pediatrician if symptoms of stress or anxiety persist and ask for help if needed. If you have teenagers, pay attention to changes in mood, sleep, appetite, difficulty focusing, feelings of hopelessness, or excessive sadness.\u00a0 If you see any signs of substance abuse, definitely seek help.\u00a0 This is a particularly difficult time for that age.\u00a0 Proms, graduations, college visits, driving, and their independence have all been taken away as we shelter in place.\u00a0 Make sure they also have appropriate sources of COVID-19 facts, such as the NJ Department of Health and the CDC.\u00a0 Social media is not<\/em> the place to get the facts.<\/p>\n 3. Take care of yourself<\/strong>. Remember the airplane lesson of putting your mask on first? The same analogy is true during a pandemic. \u00a0Acknowledge that this is hard.\u00a0 It’s hard to go food shopping.\u00a0 It’s hard putting three meals and snacks together every day.\u00a0 It’s hard keeping your house clean when everyone is home.\u00a0 It’s hard working from home all the time.\u00a0 It’s hard going to work. \u00a0It’s hard losing your job.\u00a0 It’s hard feeling the responsibility of keeping everyone healthy.\u00a0 It’s hard taking care of extended family.\u00a0 It’s hard when COVID-19 is in your house or if someone you love or know is in the hospital. \u00a0Give a little COVID kindness to yourself.\u00a0 Remember not to put your health on the back burner either.\u00a0 Many physicians\u2019 offices are providing tele-health, and if you do need to go in and be seen, don’t put it off.\u00a0 Offices are making it work by having you wait in your car instead of the waiting room, doing temperature checks, providing masks, and doing extra hand washing.\u00a0 Pharmacies are delivering now as well.<\/p>\n 4. Let it go<\/strong>. If you didn’t get any parenting awards today, let it go.\u00a0 If you weren’t the perfect spouse today, let it go. \u00a0Try to turn the negative into a positive.\u00a0 If you are stress baking and ate half of the brownie batter, turn it into a positive.\u00a0 Say to yourself, \u201cI made brownies for my family, and I helped my children learn fractions by letting them measure the ingredients!\u201d\u00a0 That’s Montessori Practical Life in the home! \u00a0If you lost your temper, that\u2019s okay.\u00a0 Who hasn’t?\u00a0 Apologize and talk about how you would have handled it differently.\u00a0 Model how to manage your feelings of anger and frustration.\u00a0 Saying out loud how frustrated you are lowers frustration levels.\u00a0 Telling someone you trust that you are stressed lowers stress levels.\u00a0 Help your children put into words how they are feeling and describe what they are thinking about.\u00a0 \u00a0Let your children see you take some deep breaths to calm down and reset your nervous system.\u00a0 Learning to calm down and manage stress and anxiety are valuable lessons your children will carry with them long after this pandemic is over.\u00a0 Whether you like it or not, you are teaching your children how to cope with adversity, change, and stress. \u00a0Control what you can by keeping basic routines and healthy habits that work for your family.\u00a0 Let go of the rest.<\/p>\n 5. Lower the bar<\/strong>. So much stress and disappointment comes from unrealistic expectations. When normal schedules and routines are turned upside down, of course things will go wrong.\u00a0 Now is not the time to strive for perfection when you have to wear so many hats.\u00a0 There are some things that we just have to get through, and this pandemic is one of them. \u00a0Getting through is a huge success in and of itself, and perhaps that is the bar we should set\u2014let\u2019s just aim to get through this together!<\/p>\n None of this easy, but it helps to stay focused on what you can do to maintain a sense of calm and to reassure children that they are okay, and that this will get better. \u00a0It\u2019s important for parents to assure themselves, too, that you are doing the best that you can with self care, moderation of media, keeping communication open, and looking forward to coming through to the other side once this crisis abates. \u00a0And it will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Polly Bliss, RN, CSN We all know from Health classes at MCA that I reinforce with the children five important things to stay healthy: wash your hands, brush your teeth, take a deep breath, eat more fruits and vegetables, and exercise.\u00a0 If you are in Elementary, we add #6, which is to go to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[13],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7icff-iD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":564,"url":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2017\/11\/13\/promoting-a-lifetime-of-healthy-habits-at-mca\/","url_meta":{"origin":1155,"position":0},"title":"Promoting a Lifetime of Healthy Habits at MCA","author":"Alex Chiu","date":"November 13, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 By Polly Bliss with Alex Chiu \u201cTeaching health class is my favorite time of the day at MCA. The hand washing and vegetable songs are music to my ears, and I enjoy the great questions and funny, honest comments your children make during class. If you have Diet Coke\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Early Child Education"","block_context":{"text":"Early Child Education","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/category\/early-child-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/health-blog-image-300x196.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":89,"url":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/10\/a-joyful-start-to-the-montessori-journey-with-mmcm\/","url_meta":{"origin":1155,"position":1},"title":"A Joyful Start to the Montessori Journey with MMC&M","author":"Alex Chiu","date":"May 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By: Camilla Nichols-Uhler and Alex Chiu This fall, The Montessori Children\u2019s Academy (MCA) proudly launched an exciting new program called Montessori, My Child, & Me (MMC&M). \u00a0Designed for children ages 18-30 months, this program offers young children the opportunity to explore a modified Montessori environment with their parents or caregivers.\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Early Child Education"","block_context":{"text":"Early Child Education","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/category\/early-child-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0153.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0153.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0153.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0153.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_0153.jpg?fit=1200%2C896&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":352,"url":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2016\/11\/07\/enriching-your-after-school-schedule\/","url_meta":{"origin":1155,"position":2},"title":"Enriching Your After-School Schedule","author":"Alex Chiu","date":"November 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Enrichment classes are offered by schools, community recreation programs, churches, and even the local library. Enrichment offerings fall into many different categories: sports, STEM, and art are just a few. Enrichment is for everyone, too; there are classes around town geared towards toddlers on up to adults. These recreational activities\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Early Child Education"","block_context":{"text":"Early Child Education","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/category\/early-child-education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/hands.jpg?fit=800%2C530&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/hands.jpg?fit=800%2C530&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/hands.jpg?fit=800%2C530&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/hands.jpg?fit=800%2C530&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":223,"url":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2016\/07\/11\/mca-book-club-inspires-summer-reading-list\/","url_meta":{"origin":1155,"position":3},"title":"MCA Book Club Inspires Summer Reading List","author":"Alex Chiu","date":"July 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By: Alex Chiu In the fall of this past school year, The Montessori Children\u2019s Academy (MCA) was proud to host Dr. Eileen Kennedy-Moore as a guest speaker for a Speaker Series event.\u00a0 Dr. Kennedy-Moore shared her professional insights on a variety of parenting topics, balanced with her own honest experiences\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Montessori Philosophy"","block_context":{"text":"Montessori Philosophy","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/category\/montessori-philosophy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1376,"url":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/27\/how-to-establish-healthy-transition-routines-at-the-start-of-a-new-school-year\/","url_meta":{"origin":1155,"position":4},"title":"How to Establish Healthy Transition Routines at the Start of a New School Year","author":"Tori Inkley","date":"August 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Camilla Nichols, Senior Director of Montessori Development In Montessori schools, we often refer to Head Teachers as \u201cGuides\u201d. The primary role of a Montessori Guide is to act as a role model for the children in her or his care. These Guides, or Head Teachers, are trained to observe\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Care of Self"","block_context":{"text":"Care of Self","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/category\/care-of-self\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/The_Kissing_Hand_by_Audrey_Penn.jpeg?fit=272%2C367&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":234,"url":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/2016\/08\/09\/seven-extra-hours\/","url_meta":{"origin":1155,"position":5},"title":"Seven Extra Hours","author":"Alex Chiu","date":"August 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"By: Alex Chiu What if you and your child were given the gift of seven extra hours to your day or even to your week? Most of us would probably be thrilled to have that extra time to do all of the things we complain that we never have the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Montessori in your Home"","block_context":{"text":"Montessori in your Home","link":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/category\/montessori-in-your-home\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/1224a94f-687e-4474-97a8-2e2829471ae9.jpg?fit=400%2C282&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1155"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1164,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1155\/revisions\/1164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1155"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themontessorichildrensacademy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}