Ease The Back to School Transition with TouchPoints™

It’s back to school season and all of us parents know how stressful that can be for our little kiddos. My 10-year-old son started school Monday and had some back to school jitters. He woke up with a stomach ache and said he couldn't go to school.

As a neuropsychologist I know the role stress and anxiety plays in big transitions. Luckily, I have TouchPoints™ to help with situations like these. If he stayed anxious and I let him stay home, the anxiety would likely continue. Then trying to get him to go the next day might be more of a battle. And if his stress stayed high and I forced him to go, he could get through it but would suffer during the entire process and might stay sick the entire day. Because our brains are wired to avoid unpleasant things, he'd likely want to keep avoiding school or would stay anxious at school and it could interfere with his learning, happiness, and even his physical health.

So what did I do?

I gently reminded him that it's normal to have stress the first day of school and that stress was causing his stomach to feel sick. If I had only done that, it would have helped a little but his stomach ache would have persisted and he would have had to suffer with it.

We put TouchPoints™ in his socks and about 30 seconds later he said "You know, mom, I think I can handle it."  His stomach ache was resolved and he finished getting ready. He had a great day! The next day, he had a little bit of a stomach ache before school and he asked to use TouchPoints™ to help. This time he forgot they were on so they ran for about 5 minutes. I asked if he wanted to wear them to school and he said he felt totally fine, turned them off, and handed them to me. The third day he felt great and thanks to TouchPoints™ he is off to a great start!

Sometimes parents don't realize that there are quick fixes to situations like these. Using TouchPoints™ is a quick stress hack to problem-solve anxiety and give our kids the gift of calm so everyone can get on with their day on a positive note!