Can an anxious parent create a calm child? How do we talk to kids about the coronavirus if we ourselves are anxious? Join Lorna Hecht, LMFT and Miriam Bellamy, LMFT as we discuss the topic of how to talk to kids about the coronavirus.
Our society is in crisis mode regardless of how seriously we are taking the outbreak. In the video below, we discuss the benefits of a no secrets policy with children, encouraging age-appropriate, open communication in the family. When we are responsible FOR our kids, instead of TO our kids, we remove responsibility FROM them.
Lorna: People do better when they know what they’re up against.
Miriam: Even children.
Lorna: Information is power even if it’s not pleasant information.
We can easily take away their own sense of agency and creativity and independence by not giving them the facts. Lorna and Miriam discuss the strategies on how to talk to your kids about coronavirus:
- Giving kids age appropriate facts
- Taking steps to calm oneself (like only getting one’s news from the CDC or WHO)
- Focusing on what we DO know for sure (like washing one’s hands is important)
- Spending one-on-one time during social isolation rather than pushing for total family togetherness
- Make good contact with extended family…a resource that most conventional thinking poo-poos