Tween Turning Point: School-Time Jitters
School is probably just days away for some of your kids, and in our house, I’ve just experienced one of the hardest situations in my parenting years. My daughter had an emotional breakdown about heading off to high school for the first time. It got me thinking about all the other firsts in her life and how scary they can be. She started a new school in sixth grade where she knew not one single soul. Then, the next year she started a brand-new junior high school for seventh grade. Each time was a new and frightening experience for her.
There are ways to make these new adjustments easier on your daughters, and in looking back, I wish I would have tried some of these tips out to make the transitions easier on the both of us!
SLEEP: Make sure your daughter is getting enough sleep leading up to the big day. This was a huge issue for us. The week before school started, she took a big trip away from home (that’ll be another post - her first flight on her own!). I think when she got home, she never fully rested and recovered from her vacation away from her family. Sleep is so important to your daughter’s growing body, and while girls want to stay up all hours of the night playing on their devices or checking out the latest trends on FPgirl, they need their rest!
SELF-CONFIDENCE: Check in on your daughter’s self-confidence before school starts. So many emotions are stirring up inside of her. Will she wear the right outfit? Will she make new friends? It’s such a tough time for her and the self-esteem factor is just crazy important. Is she pumped-up excited about school? Nervous? Ready to go? Talk about what’s going on inside her head.
SHOWING IT OFF: Have your daughter put on a fashion show! If she’s not sure what to wear on the first day, have her put on a mini fashion show for you, complete with her favorite hairstyle so she can be sure she’s got everything set and ready for the first day. Knowing what she will wear, and how she wants to have her hair done will alleviate some of the first-day nerves for her, and putting on a fashion show will be a fun way to end the summer.
SURVIVING IT!: I reminded my daughter that everyone has a first day of school, whether it’s the first day of fourth grade, junior high or high school. And everyone survives it. And usually, mostly everyone has a positive memory of their first days, or at least a funny story to share!
Here are some tips from Isabelle, on how to survive middle school, even though at age 10, she’s not quite there yet! We’ve got some very smart girls over at FPgirl! Read what Isabelle has to say, and then check out some more great comments and suggestions from other readers as well!
Photo credit: http://www.vistamagazine.com
About the Author:
Stephanie Elliot, in no particular order, is a wife, writer, blogger, book reviewer, editor and mother to three kids, two who have already been tweens, and one who is right smack in the middle of his tween-ness. Her oldest son is almost driving and her daughter survived her tween years so Stephanie must be doing something right. Find out more at stephanieelliot.com.
