
The Once-in-a-While Wellness
Parent Edition
04.12.24
For school counselors, there are certain times of year you can pretty much bank on a hike in student appointments. Inevitably these include tech week for theater, back to school, and without fail ... the days leading up to grades closing for the quarter. Grading systems, methodology, and overall relevance continue to be debated but what always surprises me is how nervous students get ... even older high school students ... about their parents' reaction to their report cards. I hear repeatedly and (believe it or not) earnestly that kids really want their parents to notice their achievements as much as they zone in on their areas for improvement. It's easy to forget this as parents of teens who slowly and steadily become proficient at apathy and avoidance that they really do care what we say, and they really do need acknowledgement when they try, progress, or even maintain academically while balancing all the rest of their complicated lives.
Validating Your Child (Even When You Don't Understand)
I had an "aha" moment on validation when my son's pediatrician gently shared the idea that he knows his own body temperature. Every time he would run out of the house in freezing temps sans coat, I would tell him he must be cold. It was a simple reminder that even when we profess to understand the importance of acknowledging someone's feelings, it's far too easy with our own children to think "of course you don't feel that way!" We are also born fixers as parents, so it can become habitual to skip right over the feelings and even dismiss them as tweens and teens grow increasingly dramatic. Ampersand Counseling & Consultation is offering a one hour Zoom workshop you can do in the comfort of your own home and brush up on some skills to better connect from the heart.
See flyer below to sign up!