Five Must-Haves For Your Child’s Return to School
After a summer like no other, we are preparing for an unprecedented return to school. Finally, the surprise six-month March Break is coming to an end. It only makes sense that this year’s back-to-school supply checklist is also very different.
Here are five must-haves for your child’s return to school.
1. Masks
Where we live, schools have mandated masks for EVERYONE of EVERY AGE. Unprompted, my 7-year-old says that this Take Care brand mask is the most comfortable out of all the ones we have. Let’s face it; the best mask is the one that your child will actually wear. We haven’t added a filter to it yet, but there is a pocket to add a filter for extra protection.
2. Mask Lanyard
Now that we have a mask that a child is willing to wear, a lanyard is my attempt to keep it off the floor throughout the school day and to keep other children’s hands off of it.
The safest children’s lanyards have a safety pressure clasp that pops open if it gets pulled too hard (to prevent strangling), their names on beads incorporated into it, and a lava bead to add a drop of immune-boosting and/or calming essential oil.
3. Essential oils
My daughter will have the option of putting a little spritz of that on her mask each morning to help with anxiety. We will also be rolling children’s immune boost blend on the bottom of her feet every morning before she puts her socks on. And, as mentioned before, we will be putting a drop of essential oil of her choosing on the lava been on her mask lanyard.
4.Tools for managing anxiety: Bach Rescue Remedy
A long-standing tried and true anxiety assistance for adults, children, and pets alike is Bach’s Rescue Remedy. My daughter has been experiencing some anxiety about heading back to school. Her emotional health is an important part of her overall health, so we will be incorporating Rescue Remedy into or supplement routine for a few weeks, or until she feels a bit more relaxed. It is no surprise that with getting back into a school routine after six months away from school, wearing a mask all day and all of the new rules that she has to learn because she is attending school during a global pandemic that she may need a little extra support adjusting this year. I will also be putting one of their tiny gummies in her lunch box so she can take it if she starts to feel overwhelmed with wearing her mask.
Rescue Remedy is sold on Amazon, so you can easily order it here.
5. A mindfulness exercise
Lockdown and COVID have been a challenge, but there have been many silver-linings. I have decided to apply that mindset to back-to-school. Our hamster-wheel lives have been paused, and we finally have a chance to master some much-needed life skills. Going back to school will be challenging. Children having to wear a mask all-day at school will be challenging. But we can do hard things. What if we take this time to focus on our breath, master our minds, and boost our immune system.
When you or your child get overwhelmed, do a simple grounding exercise.
First, focus on and slow your breath. Breathe all the way down to your belly button. Then, close your eyes and listen to what you can hear. Listen for at least three different things. With your eyes still closed, can you remember three things in your immediate vicinity that make you happy (I can–my dog, my coffee maker, and my weighted blanket)? While you think of these things that make you happy, can you FEEL what it is like when these things make you happy? Remember a memory of when these items made you happy.
There are so many amazing short and easy mindfulness meditations that you can find on YouTube. Be sure to arm your child with one before they go back to school and so that they feel in control of any situation this school year might throw at them.
Good luck everyone! Let’s make this school year the best one yet!
