Back to School time – already!

Back to School time – already!

It seems like summer just got started, and here it is, time for kids to head back to school.

Some are eagerly awaiting the first day – happy to begin first grade or to get back in the classroom with their friends.

Others are dreading it, wishing for the days to go slower before they'll be required to show up.

Your child may be dreading school because it is an entirely new experience, or because it hasn't been a pleasant experience. He or she may have been bullied or teased. There may be classmates – or even teachers – that make each day unpleasant.

Perhaps you and your children have moved to a new community over the summer – so everything is different and scary. He or she won't know anyone, won't know the layout of the school, and won't know any of the teachers. For a lot of kids, this is terrifying.

Your child may have just moved from middle school to Junior High School. Or from Junior High to Senior High – or high school to college. Everyone is subjected to those rites of passage, but that doesn't make it any easier for a student who is filled with anxiety over the change.

How can you help?

First, by being understanding without being "enabling." Let your child know that his or her feelings are perfectly normal. A whole lot of kids feel the same way. If you experienced the same anxiety, talk about how you got through it. Understand it, but don't make a bigger problem out of it.

Second, by providing your child with a bottle of Feel5ivefrom FeelBach!.

Feel5ive is the anti-stress formula Doctor Bach created to deal with fear and anxiety. It's there to help on those fearful first days, and at times when you have to face something like a job interview or an audition, a dental appointment, surgery, or meeting your sweetheart's Mom for the first time.

Four drops 3 or 4 times a day will help keep your child on an even keel. Since schools are suspicious of anything they don't know, put the mid-day drops in a bottle of water or juice that your child will take to school.

Oh – and if you are the one who is anxious about your child going off to school, it will help you too!