Your children are probably going back to school in the coming week. They may have seen their friends over the holidays – they may not have. If they haven’t they may feel slightly nervous about seeing them again and wonder if their friends are still going to be the same – after all they have all had different experiences, been on holiday, maybe seen other friends. It is important that they don’t worry about seeing old school friends.
Help Your Child Worry Less About Seeing Old School Friends
If so, you could give them a helping hand. Talk to them before they go back about what they are feeling nervous about and challenge those fears. Remind them who their friends are and what they have in common with them. Explain to them that many children will not have seen school friends over the holidays and that strong friendships should not change over the period of a few weeks.
If you can fit it in arrange some playdates before they return to school so your child can feel more relaxed with their friends and they won’t have that daunting ‘what if?’
Once they go back to school you could arrange for some friends to pop back after school one day so that your child re-familiarises themselves with their friends and feels more comfortable with them. Talk to them about how they can re-connect with friends – the questions they can ask them and explain the importance of showing interest in what they did in the holidays. And finally, get them to be themselves, relax and go with the flow and it will be as if they and their friends had never been apart.
What other advice would you have for your child?
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