It\u2019s that time of year again.\u00a0 Camp is l-o-n-g over and now is \u201cBayn HashMashos.\u201d\u00a0 The lack of structure is not an easy time for most families.\u00a0 How much time can Daddy and Mommy take off from work?\u00a0 Thankfully, it\u2019s not open-ended.\u00a0 School begins imminently.\u00a0 And there\u2019s much to be done.<\/p>\n
Each school has its own protocol for nit-check, forms and uniform pickup as each teacher will inform parents and students about notebooks, folders and binders, and other school supplies.\u00a0 That\u2019s not our focus here.\u00a0 Rather, I am offering my viewpoint, as a pediatrician, on what families can do to structure the beginning of the school year for a \u201cwin-win\u201d for all.<\/p>\n
We learned from the Covid-19 pandemic that children are more likely to learn, thrive and develop appropriately when attending school in person, alongside their peers.\u00a0 Let\u2019s begin with the basics.\u00a0 These basics include ensuring that students get nutritious meals, sufficient sleep (a future topic to be covered in more depth) and physical activity.\u00a0 These are key building blocks to academic and social success.<\/p>\n
Is your child, from the youngest age through the college years, up-to-date with their well visits?\u00a0 Some call it the routine check-up.\u00a0 Your pediatrician wants your child to be healthy.\u00a0 In addition to making sure all systems are working normally, patients might have blood tests.\u00a0 Adolescents should have depression and substance abuse screenings.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing how kids will open up.\u00a0 For the most part, they all want to have and celebrate success.<\/p>\n
And then there are the vaccinations.\u00a0 They should be up-to-date.\u00a0 There is no reason for them not to be.\u00a0 The recent case of polio in Rockland County, combined with the polio virus in the wastewater, is concerning.\u00a0 Enough said.<\/p>\n
A word about mental health.\u00a0 It\u2019s no secret that today\u2019s world presents our children with challenges in this area.\u00a0 Many children and teens have experienced mental health struggles over the past few years.\u00a0 Be on the lookout for any concerning changes in behavior or signs of anxiety or distress.\u00a0 Ask your pediatrician if your child has taken a vacation this summer from their ADD\/ADHD, anxiety, depression or whatever kind of medications.\u00a0 Now \u2013 meaning this week \u2013 is the time to resume them.\u00a0 Kids need time to adapt to them.<\/p>\n
What if your child has not had a medication check up in a while?\u00a0 Trust me, this happens.\u00a0 Ideally, there should be regularly scheduled medication appointments because kids grow and circumstances change.\u00a0 You want to make sure that the medications are efficacious so your child can have that \u201cwin-win\u201d mentioned above.<\/p>\n
Presently, there\u2019s an avalanche of requests for medication appointments.\u00a0 At this 11th<\/sup> hour, despite the importance of these medications, your physician cannot just fit you in for \u201cbut-it\u2019s-only-a-5-minute-conversation\u201d type of visit.\u00a0 Doing these visits thoroughly and correctly will pay dividends.\u00a0 Promise.\u00a0 And if this means missing some school and work to make these appointments happen, then so be it.\u00a0 I\u2019m happy to discuss this with any Rosh Yeshiva, head of school, or principal.<\/p>\n No discussion about children and adolescents and mental health can omit the topic of bullying.<\/p>\n Bullying or cyberbullying is when one child picks on another child repeatedly.\u00a0 Bullying can be physical, verbal or social, and it can happen in school, in the playground, on the school bus or anywhere, including in shul, in the neighborhood, over the Internet or over phones.<\/p>\n Bullying is never to be tolerated.<\/p>\n If your child is bullied, alert school officials to the problems and work with them on solutions.\u00a0 Teach your child to be comfortable with when and how to ask a trusted adult for help.\u00a0 Ask them to identify who they can ask for help.\u00a0 Further, recognize the serious nature of bullying and acknowledge your child\u2019s feelings about being bullied.<\/p>\n Teach your child to look the bully in the eye, to stand tall and stay calm in a difficult situation and to walk away.\u00a0 Also, teach your child to say in a firm voice, \u201cI don\u2019t like what you\u2019re doing.\u00a0 Please do not talk to me like that.\u201d\u00a0 Encourage your child to make friends with other children.\u00a0 Support outside activities that interest your child and validate his feelings.<\/p>\n Also, make sure that an adult who knows about bullying can watch out for your child\u2019s safety and well-being when you cannot be there.\u00a0 And monitor your child\u2019s social media or texting interactions so you can identify problems before they get out of hand.<\/p>\n What if your child is the bully?<\/p>\n Make sure that your children know that bullying is never okay.\u00a0 Set firm and consistent limits with your child\u2019s aggressive behavior.\u00a0 Use non-physical discipline, such as loss of privileges.\u00a0 Role model how children can get what they want without teasing, threatening or hurting someone.\u00a0 If the behavior persists, consult a mental health professional.<\/p>\n By now, most parents and kids have received bus cards and have set up carpools.\u00a0 Some kids also bicycle to school or use electric scooters.\u00a0 Please assure that your child has a properly fitting helmet on at all times when using these modes of transportation.\u00a0 A traumatic brain injury should be avoided at all costs.<\/p>\n Electric scooters are not just a sophisticated bicycle.\u00a0 Just like a motorcyclist has to have a license to ride, which means that he knows the rules of the road, so, too, do our children need to know the rules of electric scooters and bicycles.\u00a0 It is not an innocuous vehicle.\u00a0 Used incorrectly, it can bring harm to self and to others.\u00a0 Further, make sure that the tzitzis strings are tucked inside the pants and that the long skirts are somehow secured so they do not get caught in the spokes.<\/p>\n Helmets.\u00a0 Please.<\/p>\n And please make sure that your children do NOT have on headphones or ear pods while using these modes of transportation.\u00a0 It distracts them from their surroundings to which they should be paying the highest level of attention for safety reasons.\u00a0 They can catch up on the Daf or Parsha later.<\/p>\n Invest the time to practice the bike route to school before the first day of school to make sure that your child can manage it.\u00a0 Know the Rules of the Road.\u00a0 Emphasize to your child to \u201cRide on the Right,\u201d in the same direction as the cars.\u00a0 Use bike lanes of they are present as well as appropriate hand signals.\u00a0 And please respect traffic lights and stop signs.\u00a0 The rules are there for us all.<\/p>\n A commercial for handwashing with soap and then drying them.\u00a0 This is excellent, basic hygiene that promotes good health and can prevent the spread of viruses.\u00a0 This holds true for washing hands in school, in shul and when coming home from wherever.\u00a0 \u00a0Sometimes, it may be beneficial for your younger children to change their clothes when coming home from school \u2013 especially if you have small babies or toddlers in your home.<\/p>\n For some people, beginnings are hard.\u00a0 But proper preparation with a good mindset can bring us and our children far.<\/p>\n As always, daven<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s that time of year again.\u00a0 Camp is l-o-n-g over and now is \u201cBayn HashMashos.\u201d\u00a0 The lack of structure is not an easy time for most families.\u00a0 How much time can Daddy and Mommy take off from work?\u00a0 Thankfully, it\u2019s not open-ended.\u00a0 School begins imminently.\u00a0 And there\u2019s much to be done. Each school has its<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133543,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-parenting"],"yoast_head":"\n