In These Times December 2021
“Advice from a sunflower: Be bright, sunny, and positive. Spread seeds of happiness. Rise, shine, and hold your head high.”
What anger, fear, and abandonment do to our children
In these times, our children are acting out of rage because of the “unprecedented upheaval due to the COVID-19 pandemic and racial reckoning years in the making.” No generation has lost so much as ours. We lost our family loved ones. We lost our values. We lost two years of socializing at school in our most formative years/
What our young need
We’ve always known to succeed. Children need stable homes, quality health care, ample nutritious food, good schools, safe neighborhoods, and access to resources and opportunities that enable them to reach their potential.
How to build up, not tear down
As our children continue to suffer from the harmful impacts of our country’s health, economic, and racial disparities, magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, the challenges facing our young people are more frightening.
Today’s kids don’t recognize today’s realities and are trying to rewrite their reality without regard to the consequences.
- Plain talk to them. A loving attitude goes a long way.
- A hug may say more than words.
- Keep their hands busy. Their heart and ego will be cheerful.
- When our kids think they deserve better, they probably do.
- Dysfunction in a loved one is recognizable. Personal hygiene, bedhead hair, and aloneness all tell us, they need help and are getting lost.
- Dysfunctional parents rear Dysfunctional children. Who is leading who in such a scenario?
- Try to recognize that some don’t want to be fixed because being broken gives us so much attention.
- For attention hogs, give them your time, walk with them. Talk with them, and if nothing works, try a smile when they least expect it.
- Forgive rather than argue, love unconditionally, and never warn you’re giving up on them. They need security.
Most importantly, don’t let anyone invalidate or minimize how you feel. No one else lives in your body. No one else sees life through your eyes. No one else has lived through your eyes. And so, no one else has the right to dictate or judge how you feel. Your feelings are important, and you deserve to be heard. They are inherently valid, and they matter. Don’t let anyone make you believe otherwise. These suggestions are for all ages.
Happy Holidays