Picture this scenario in your head: It’s a child’s first time in a day care center in King County, Washington, and he wants his mother to ditch her 9 to 5 job schedule and stay with him. It’s already half past eight, and the mother, clearly at the brink of tears herself, picks him up and rocks him until he quiets down.
Sounds familiar? Child psychologists call this separation anxiety. Dr. Jillian Roberts, the founder of the parenting website Family Sparks, says that this is a totally normal phenomenon and that it eventually passes as children grow older.
That doesn’t make it any less stressful for parents, though. Luckily, we at Lagarllito’s Garden Bilingual Spanish School can give you some tips on how to make saying goodbye to your kids easy.
- Let your kid get used to your absence. You can do this by playing hide-and-seek or the bye-bye game, as Elizabeth Pantley, author of The No-Cry Separation Anxiety Solution, suggests. She adds that such games should involve “more separation than peekaboo.” The point, after all, is for your kid to get used to it.
- Stick to a routine. Be consistent with your drop-off and pick-up times. This will make your child feel secure and assures him or her that you will always come back after every goodbye.
- Teach your kid a goodbye ritual. Ease your child’s anxiety by making goodbye fun. Use unique phrases like “See you later, alligator!” or the like. You can even use secret handshakes! But be warned: Healthychildren.org recommends keeping the goodbye short. The longer you take to say it, the greater your child’s anxiety.
Saying adios doesn’t have to be a painful experience. Follow these steps and make saying goodbye stress free!
Do you know other ways to ease separation anxiety? Let us know in the comments. If you are interested in enrolling your child in a bilingual Spanish Preschool in King County, Washington, feel free to talk to us.
