Supporting Our Children in Uncertain Times: Practical Tips for Parents

I dont know about you but as an adult, the world feels overwhelming at the moment let alone for our children!

With stories of conflict, climate issues, and other unsettling events making headlines, it’s natural for our kids to feel anxious or afraid. So how can we make a difference in how our children feel apart from sticking our heads in the sand and ignoring the world?

As parents, we play a crucial role in helping them navigate these emotions and find a sense of safety and stability. Here’s some tips on how we can support our children during these challenging times.

Create a Safe Space for Conversations

Encourage your children to talk about their feelings.

Sometimes it feels easier to brush off feelings or emotions, nod and agree or even worse sit and completely invalidate that their feelings exist!

Instead, create a space for them to feel heard, Make sure it is a comfortable space for them, not sure about you but offices or sitting at a table doesn't make me want to share my worries with the world!

Let them know it’s okay to be scared or worried, and that you’re there to listen without judgment. maybe even make it so that only one person can talk at a time so they can get everything out of their system.

You dont have to have the answers, the aim is to make space for their emotions, feelings and thoughts to be heard and acknowledged.

To help them, ask open-ended questions like, “How does that make you feel?” or “What worries you the most about what you heard?” This allows them to express themselves freely and helps you understand their perspective.

Be Honest, Yet Reassuring

When discussing difficult topics, be truthful, but tailor your explanations to their age and maturity level.

The world can feel overwhelming but there is not point lying to your children as it will mean that they are unable to trust you as they grow!

Truth can be scary, the key is to jam in reassurance, let them know that situations do not last forever and things can change, and give them ways to feel empowered. things like writing a letter to people in charge, and making kindness stones to share love for the world. Or even a plan on how to donate things to help.

Avoid overwhelming them with too much information. Instead, focus on what they can understand, and what they can learn from the situation.

Practice Mindfulness and Relaxation

Introduce your children to simple mindfulness techniques, like deep breathing exercises or guided meditations. Living in the present moment and focusing on areas such as self-compassion can really build resilience in our children!

A simple mindful moment can be used to help us focus at any point!

• mindful eating: what does our food, smell, taste, and feel like?

• walking mindfully: what can you see, colours, smell, animals?

• feather races: take deep breaths right into your diaphragm who can get the feather to travel the furthest?

Check out online for children's yoga and mindful practices these moments can help us focus on the now and not on everything outside of ourselves.

Be A Role Model

Children often take cues from their parents. If they see you handling stress with resilience and calm, they’re more likely to adopt the same approach.

Consider if you are shouting the house down, panicked or generally stressed, are your children joining in? Children will take their cues from your nonverbal language as much as what you are saying!

Make sure you are making the space to work through your feelings and uncertainty and then talk to them about it, Share your feelings with them in an age-appropriate way.

This helps show them healthy ways of coping with uncertainty and empowers their confidence in sharing their worries and issues with you. If you are always hiding your reality that is something else that they can easily learn!

Foster Hope and Optimism

Despite the challenges, it’s important to remind our children of the good in the world.

Often the mainstream of input we have seems to miss the amazing moments, they ignore the stories of people coming together to help and support each other, the hilarious moments of joy and relief that come in our darkest times.

The world around us can forget to instil a sense of hope!

As parents, we can build that amazing skill which enables reliance and a powerful antidote to fear, the hope of better things is a powerful emotion and skills to learn!

So step into finding the stories that share the best parts of humanity, look for ways to support the local community and build a reason for hope within your children!

Ask them what they would hope to happen if it was the best outcome.

Ask yourself that one aswell :)

As a Parent no matter how much it may feel like it you are not alone in this journey. Together, we can foster a sense of security and optimism in our children, even amidst the challenges of today’s world. I would love to hear how you build hope within your family.

Lots of love from us at Dreamweaver to those families who are struggling right now!