Dear Parents,
As hurricane season is upon us with Dorian’s upcoming visit, we wanted to provide some useful tips to help comfort our little ones through this often difficult time:
1) When a child verbalizes worries or manifests this in behaviors, try to reflect and validate the worry. For example, “I hear that makes you worried! It’s okay to feel nervous about the big storm.”
2) Ensure to check your own reactions during this time. Are you making statements that can exacerbate the child’s worries? For example, “Oh no! Our house will blow down! What are we going to do?!” Your feelings matter, so take a minute to utilize your own coping skills to maintain a safe demeanor around your little ones.
3) Avoid putting on the news/weather channel on repeat in front of them. The media can sensationalize or create more worry for littles ones that may misinterpret what the reporters are saying. Try to keep up to date more on news or weather apps on your phone or wait for the kids to go to bed.
4) Give your child a choice of picking a reasonable way to help prepare for the hurricane. They can feel empowered with a task. Have them make their own little hurricane kit with their favorite stuffed animals, coloring books, games, etc.
5) Do some meditations with them or something they like to cope with as a healthy means of distraction. The calm.com application has an entire kids section to choose soothing music, sleep stories, and meditations.
As always, we are here to support you.
Here’s wishing you a safe hurricane season,
Dr. Laura 🌿