Got drop-off drama?

Hello, Happy Humans!

We're here with our weekly 3 things...

1️⃣ A question from our community

2️⃣ Our actionable tip of the week

3️⃣ A resource from our toolkit

1. The question

“My daughter gets SO upset every morning at drop-off, and I feel helpless the moment we pull up to her school. How can I make this process easier for her (and me!)?”

2. Our actionable tip

We’ve all been there.

School drop-off can be SO incredibly challenging, especially for our younger kids.

For example, our 3.5-year-old son struggled with preschool drop-off nearly EVERY SINGLE DAY at the start of last year. But now, he walks right into school, barely throwing up a hand to wave goodbye.

So how did we get here?

Lots of mommy tears... just kidding (but not really). In all seriousness, we put in the work every day by…

✅ PROVIDING CONSISTENT REASSURANCE

We took inspiration from Daniel Tiger’s parents, who sang, "Grownups Come Back," in an episode about leaving Daniel with a babysitter. Watch the song here!

We sang parts of this song EVERY DAY and had chats on the way to school to prepare him for drop-off. I’d say things like…

"You wish Mommy could stay with you at school, and that’s really hard. But I know you’re safe, and remember, I ALWAYS come back at the end of the day."

I also made sure to make a swift exit. It’s likely that drop-off is dysregulating for your child, and the longer you stay, the harder it gets… for EVERYONE.

It wasn’t easy, but that consistent reassurance (and giving him ample space to adjust) made all of the difference.

If you’re struggling with drop-offs, just know that you’re not alone… and it does get easier. 

3. From our toolkit

If you’re looking for a great way to talk to your kids about going to school, we absolutely LOVE “The Kissing Hand” by Audrey Penn.
 

The story is all about a young raccoon named Chester who feels anxious about starting school. 

To comfort him, his mother kisses his hand and tells him that her love will stay with him throughout the day, even when they are apart.

We read this book with our kids at the start of every school year. And when our son was really struggling with drop-off, it became a regular part of our routine.

You can grab your copy from Amazon here! 

This touching story not only reassures kids that they are loved but also helps them understand that it's okay to feel anxious or worried about new experiences. 

It’s the perfect way to foster connection and comfort during these not so easy transitions, and… it’ll help mama too! ❤️

Thanks for being here. 🙂

-Jenilee & Greg

P.S. The first four Modules of our '57+ Ways to Chill the Eff Out' workshop have been uploaded to The Collective! If you're eager to get started learning everything you need to know about regulation so you can 1) lower your baseline emotional temperature and 2) reclaim your calm when you feel it slipping away, come join us in The Collective FREE for one week to see if the workshop is right for you.

The workshop will become available as a standalone activity once we finish with the post-production work on the other 6 modules, so if you're not interested in joining us in The Collective, hang in there!

If you're not on our list, you can use this link to stay in the loop about our 'Chill' workshop.

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