LA, my 7 year old, has anxiety. It’s awful to watch. Someone so small, my little baby, experiencing pure terror over tiny things. Completely unable to to attend the school that he loves because of awkward experiences on the bus and the one final straw that turned me into a home school mom.
His teacher, Miss M, yelled at him once. I was never able to get him to go back again. It broke his heart that he let down his teacher and made her so angry that she had to yell. I think it’s fair to say most kids would accept that they did something wrong, possibly be upset for a bit, but ultimately be able to go back to class and have fun with friends soon after. Not LA. School was over. Every morning was crying fits, yelling, begging and desperate attempts to convince me he “wasn’t comfortable” and “didn’t feel safe.”
Part of me is a total push over and I caved pretty quickly. Part of me feels like the world is too messed up to not listen to a child when they use that kind of language like “not feeling safe.” I do not believe he or my other children were in danger at the school, however, I wanted to take this easy opportunity to teach them that they are heard, I am always listening, and they are valid. Even at this young age, their opinion counts, they have a say in the decisions that affect their life, and they deserve a level of respect in all situations.
(Yes I’m a millennial, yes I am a feminist, no I’m not a vegan. You can troll me all you want for raising whiny ass snowflakes IDGAF my kids are well adjusted, intelligent individuals like our future needs.)
Naturally, with all of these changes and new feelings I knew we would need a way to process everything. Hello, Book List. It’s children with anxiety; got anything good? Hell yeah homes . Here’s our top 5. We liked these because they weren’t boring (there’s nothing worse), they have good pictures (there’s nothing better), and each babe was able to tell me something they learned about anxiety at the end of each of them.
Please Explain Anxiety to me! by Laurie Zelinger, PhD and Jordan Zelinger, MS Ed https://amzn.to/2Yx5xkv
Scardies Away! by Stacy Fiorile https://amzn.to/2vXF5UA
I Have Squirrels In My Belly by Trish Hammond https://amzn.to/2YuZHjz
But What If? by Sue Graves https://amzn.to/2JE2u5t
Help Your Dragon Deal With Anxiety by Steve Herman https://amzn.to/2JyskYR
The Dopamine Queen 
Loved the list! Didn’t realize this was a thing and grateful to discover it.
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Strange but awful truth of today’s time. I wish peace and happiness to your baby girl.💕
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So painful that a kid has to suffer from anxiety…! 😦
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I’m so sorry your little one has such trouble with anxiety. My daughter suffers mildly from it and I’m definitely going to get some of the books you recommend. I love that books are such a great way to open up the conversation between you and them. Thank you for this post!
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Sorry to hear your child has anxiety. As someone who grew up with severe anxiety issues, I wish that there had been books like this to help me understand what was going on.
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My daughter is 13 and also suffers. She does On line schooling now as she couldn’t deal with the bullying! From teachers, not the.kids! So crazy!! Hang in there and Happy Mother’s Day!💜🌷💜
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Thank you so much for this. My seven-year-old granddaughter suffers from pronounced anxiety and right now, isn’t getting help. I sending the list to my daughter.
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Thanks for sharing.That’s a tough situation, but it’s also good that your child is talking with you about it. I remember feeling a lot of anxiety around that age but not feeling comfortable expressing it, and it made things worse.
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I feel so grateful that he can talk to me! I’m sorry you experienced it and didn’t have anyone to turn to ❤
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This must be such a hard thing to witness and thank you for sharing these books. Child anxiety isn’t often talked about and this is a great overview of books to help 🙂
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As a person with anxiety and an educator I truly appreciate your post. I will look into these books. Thanks for sharing.
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Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
CALMING COLLECTION!
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