1-7th February is Children's Mental Health Week.

This year, more than any other, we are seeing more and more children really struggling.

Uncertainty, family stresses, financial worries at home, no school - then school - then no school, not seeing friends, no play dates, no birthday parties, no sport, no clubs, no swimming, no museums, being asked to keep away from friends in the park. 

What can we do to help them now and in the months ahead?

What practical steps and ground work can we do now?

1. A little bit of routine 

HOW can routines help our anxiety?

As adults make lots of decisions every day but so do our kids, especially teens.

What to wear, what to eat, what to do for the day, what piece of work to finish first.

If you have too many decisions to make then that this can increase anxiety

Try having some "certainty anchors” built into your day.

These are things that make parts of our day solid, anchored and unchanged. 

This is harder at the moment...

2020 has been a wild ride.   

For so many 2020 has meant loss, sadness, illness, money worries and much more. For others it has opened new doors, made them slow down, given opportunities and meant more time spent with loved ones. Even a mix of both!   

We all worry about the the impact of what we have been experiencing during 2020, and the impact it will have on our kids and teens, the future generations.   

How is this going to effect them?

Is 2021 going to be a kinder year?  

There are two things that will triumph from this period of time along with the scientific advances.   

Dealing with uncertainty and resilience.  

Dealing with uncertainty is something humans find hard but never before have we had to sit with it, process it and deal with it like we do now.  

‘Can I see Granny on the weekend?’

‘Will the local sweet shop be open next month?’

‘Can I have a birthday party in...

It has been a long month at the end of a very long year.

The curved ball thrown at many of us this weekend has been a tough one to take and so many people are left disappointed.

It is tough to stay positive, it is hard to remain resilient.

Surely, this whole experience will make us more capable as a human race of dealing with things that are thrown at us in the future. I was looking at our blog, to get things up and running with more regular content in 2021, and came across a post I wrote while in Canada on 2nd April before returning to the UK.

Everything written on that day remains in place today.

The feelings, the advice, the uncertainty. We have been living with this for 9 months now and even though so many of us feel very lucky to have steady jobs, a roof over our heads, a garden, loving families and food on the table when so many people around us are really struggling it is still hard for each and everyone of us in different ways.

So, be kind on yourself and others this week....