Back to School!

Welcome to August of 2014! September is around the corner, and school here in Texas has begun. The first week is over and first day pictures have been posted all over facebook. The parental relief of the end of summer is beginning to kick in, but so is that nagging fear of all of the issues that can go on for your child: what if they don’t get along with the other kids? what if their teacher doesn’t like them? what if they don’t like their teacher? what if their grades drop? and so on, and so on.

The thing is, yes, kids struggle sometimes, but I’m not nearly as concerned for them, because they have you. What are you doing to put your own fears to rest? If your kid is older, than the responsibility is now theirs to maintain their grades and social life. If the kid is younger, the stakes aren’t as high, and a lot of the time if we get out of the way our kids will figure everything out. In fact, most of the time, if we get out of the way our kids will figure something out. If we give them the space they will develop into the person who they are at their core, and they can take pride in their achievements.

So parents, let’s all take a deep breath. Their safety and well being are your responsibility, but let’s give the kids the opportunity to make their own mistakes, get a few bruises, and heal, their way.

I hope that this week you can enjoy the pleasure of knowing that your children are themselves and relish in their accomplishments separately from your own.

Keep breathing. Keep playing. Keep learning.

Nyssa Hoerner is an LMFT-Associate, supervised by Bill Woodburn, LPC, LMFT, MEd, and is currently accepting new clients. Sign up for her biweekly news letter at her website: www.nyssahoernercounseling.com

Photo Credit: DSC_0030 by US Department of Education, https://www.flickr.com/photos/departmentofed/