The Three Streams of Student/Teacher/Parent Support are up and running. We will be providing support to our community as needed during these unusual circumstances. I have started to draft something numerous times over the past several days #8211; introducing this #8216;office space#8217; to the community and sharing some ideas, but every time I#8217;ve begun to gather my thoughts about what to say, circumstances have changed and so I#8217;ve kept waiting#8230; and now here we are. I#8217;m sure we were all relieved to wake up to houses that were holding still this morning. I know I was! I didn#8217;t realize that I was already operating on pretty frayed nerves before the earthquake and that nearly pushed me over the edge.
On the continuum of all of what is going on right now #8211; ranging from anxiety/trauma inducing (earthquake!) to minor inconveniences (no toilet paper!), one of the difficulties that I know we all share is wondering how to talk about what is going on with our children. How much should we say? In what ways can we filter out some of the more stressful unknowns of what the future may hold, and help them try to manage their anxiety? In what ways might we be able to better manage our own anxiety so that it doesn#8217;t spread through our families like a serious secondary infection?
Below are links for a five-part podcast by our beloved mentor Kim John Payne, author of Simplicity Parenting, developed specifically for what is going on right now. I can#8217;t recommend it highly enough. Each episode is short #8211; between 10-20 minutes. As an added bonus, Kim is a lovely soft-spoken Australian (not mutually exclusive!) with a very soothing voice #8211; even if you don#8217;t take anything useful out of it, listening to him speak for a little while might reduce your cortisol levels. ; ) Take a listen, keep calm, and see if it helps you to enjoy this break from normal routines and busy-ness a bit more.
If you or your student needs support at any point during the coming days and weeks, please feel free to contact any one of the three streams staff #8212; you can email us or message us here in the #8216;people#8217; tab above. If you prefer to talk on the phone, simply send a message and one of us will give you a call during school hours.
We can be flexible. We can do hard things. And our children will benefit from watching us lean into the discomfort of all that is changing right now and take up new challenges with warmth and grace.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/81-troubling-times-pt-1-preparing/id1407320921?i=1000468375950
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/82-troubling-times-pt-2-signaling-security-via-decluttering/id1407320921?i=1000468375951
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/83-troubling-times-pt-3-wrapping-warm-rhythm-around/id1407320921?i=1000468375949
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/84-troubling-times-pt-4-dialing-back-schedules-in-preparation/id1407320921?i=1000468375952
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/85-troubling-times-pt-5-filtering-adult-information/id1407320921?i=1000468375948