school help/seperation anxiety

[Tink888]

Here's something to consider...

Is your son at all aware of the news? Is it ever on when he's around, in earshot or eyesight, in your house? Is there any chance the kids are talking about the news on the playground right now?

Because there's some pretty scary stuff going on in the world right now.

There's earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes and the thread of a nuclear meltdown in Japan. There's civil war in Libya and airstrikes and planes going down. There was a big earthquake in New Zealand. There was a revolution in Egypt!

I know when my son was six, this kind of thing made him pretty twitchy. Especially when the news would feature traumatized orphans, and bloodied children, and women in refugee camps, crying for their dead husbands and brothers. Even when you try not to let your children see the news, the stress still comes through. They hear adults talking, and they talk about it with each other. Your son might not understand how far away all these tragedies are, or how safe HE is.

I thought of this too since you said you are pretty sure that nothing happened in school. Could he have seen some of the coverage of the tsunami? That could certainly be enough to frighten a child. I'm inclined to think that something triggered it since it is so late in the year and the routine has been established.

DS15 had separation anxiety in kindergarten, but at the beginning of the year. Two of the things that we did which seemed to help were to send him to class with a stress ball in case he felt anxious. We also let him bring a picture of us to keep on his desk.

Hope you are able to get things sorted out. It's so hard seeing your little one so upset.

 

[jjj444]

OP here-yesterday and today were much better. We had a few very long talks with him and he says it is because one day last week he didn't see me wave goodbye to him while he was walking with his class to the classroom. I have reassured him numerous times and he seems to be better about it. I still need to walk him to class after the other Moms have dropped off the kids and he wants me to stay in class for like 5 minutes and then I can go. We are moving his Nana to another state this weekend and even though he says that has nothing to do with I wonder. He is pretty close with her. So I DREAD this weekend when we have to say goodbye to her, I am afraid it will start this all up agian. I think he realizes now though that no matter what way he acts he still has to go to school. He is pretty anxious on the car ride, but then seems to be o.k. once we are in class. i definately need to filter more of what he sees on the news. I watch it in the evening and he is always around playing so I assumed he really wasn't paying attention, but maybe he is. Thank you everyone so much for responding and hopefully we are over this for now.

 

[ccgirl]

OP here-yesterday and today were much better. We had a few very long talks with him and he says it is because one day last week he didn't see me wave goodbye to him while he was walking with his class to the classroom. I have reassured him numerous times and he seems to be better about it. I still need to walk him to class after the other Moms have dropped off the kids and he wants me to stay in class for like 5 minutes and then I can go. We are moving his Nana to another state this weekend and even though he says that has nothing to do with I wonder. He is pretty close with her. So I DREAD this weekend when we have to say goodbye to her, I am afraid it will start this all up agian. I think he realizes now though that no matter what way he acts he still has to go to school. He is pretty anxious on the car ride, but then seems to be o.k. once we are in class. i definately need to filter more of what he sees on the news. I watch it in the evening and he is always around playing so I assumed he really wasn't paying attention, but maybe he is. Thank you everyone so much for responding and hopefully we are over this for now.

That's good to hear. HOpefully, it will get better. I wish you the best of luck this weekend. For what it's worth, my DD never physically sat down to watch the news either. She just heard the news stories as she was playing. Good luck with everything. It is so hard when our children are hurting.

 

[golfgal]

OP here-yesterday and today were much better. We had a few very long talks with him and he says it is because one day last week he didn't see me wave goodbye to him while he was walking with his class to the classroom. I have reassured him numerous times and he seems to be better about it. I still need to walk him to class after the other Moms have dropped off the kids and he wants me to stay in class for like 5 minutes and then I can go. We are moving his Nana to another state this weekend and even though he says that has nothing to do with I wonder. He is pretty close with her. So I DREAD this weekend when we have to say goodbye to her, I am afraid it will start this all up agian. I think he realizes now though that no matter what way he acts he still has to go to school. He is pretty anxious on the car ride, but then seems to be o.k. once we are in class. i definately need to filter more of what he sees on the news. I watch it in the evening and he is always around playing so I assumed he really wasn't paying attention, but maybe he is. Thank you everyone so much for responding and hopefully we are over this for now.

He probably can't express why he is feeling the way he is feeling but if Grandma is moving (your mom is moving) then maybe HIS mom will move too. You have to think like a little kid. They are very literal and concrete thinkers and making the jump from your mom moving away from you and his mom moving away from him is pretty easy for a kid that age.