The Covid 19 Pandemic has caused many changes to our sense of normal. Families are social distancing, parents are stressed about work and finances and children are learning from home. With all of these changes comes an increase in difficult emotions as parents find themselves with less patience and children complain of boredom or express fears about the safety of their loved ones. As you think about how to ease difficult emotions the most important thing you can do is focus on what you can control in order to increase feelings of safety. This page has been created to provide parenting resources that will increase your coping skills during this difficult time.

Resources for Increasing Emotional Regulation

When things become stressful our nervous system activates and this makes it difficult for us to think clearly or parent with intention. The following resources will help you learn how to move out of “what if” thinking and into the present moment. Once you do this you are better able to help your entire family find calm during this scary time.

Therapy for Parents If the stress of the pandemic has taken a toll on you your not alone. Constructive Parenting offers therapy for parents who would like to build their own tools for coping with difficult emotions so that they can reclaim a sense of joy and peace even during this tough time.

F.A.C.E. Covid A short 5 minute youtube video created by Dr. Russ Harris, author of The Happiness Trap. The acronym F.A.C.E. holds the secret to increasing your sense of safety and control in the present moment. Think of this as a simple mindfulness practice during the time of Covid.

Surviving the Pandemic With Kids If you are feeling all alone, connecting with other parents is a wonderful way to regulate your emotions. This Facebook group is a wonderful resource that is run by Whitney Shamp and it is full of parenting tips, suggestions for activities, recipes and lots of other great info!

Conscious Coping in the Time of Covid-19: A Creative, Reflective Workbook This link will take you to a printable PDF which was created by psychologists Kerry Acheson and Karen Anne Hope Andrews. They created this with the hope that engaging with these creative and reflective pages will leave you feeling more grounded, connected, and empowered as we face uncertain days ahead.

How To Support Your Kids and Mitigate the Impact of Covid-19 An article I wrote for South Charlotte Macaroni Kid giving helpful tips about how becoming more aware of your stress level and taking active steps to decrease is one of the best things you can do for your child during this time.

Interview Covering Tips for Parenting During The Corona Pandemic

Meditations to Address Covid Fears

Research shows that meditation can decrease symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression. Many meditation Apps have gone out of their way to create short meditations to specifically address fears that have risen in response to Covid 19. If you are new to meditation these apps are a great way to get started with creating a practice.

10 Percent Happier Has a special page called the “Corona Virus Sanity Guide” with free guided meditations and podcasts. If you are a healthcare provider you can access additional free content specific to alleviating Corona Virus anxiety. This site is by far my favorite with specially tailored guided meditations for health care workers.

Headspace Mindfulness App Headspace is a paid mindfulness app that is offering some great content called “Weathering The Storm” which is available for free during this pandemic. If you are a teacher or a healthcare worker you can get free access to Headspace Plus for the rest of the year.

Calm Has made free content available on their “Take a Deep Breath Page”. There are children’s meditations, meditations for sleep, and meditations to address anxious thoughts.

Simple Habit Has free content on their page called “Ease Your Coronavirus Anxiety”. Content includes basic meditations for children, meditations to address stress while social distancing, and meditations to use as you heal from Corona Virus. Simple Habit is also offering free content for “all people who are impacted by the pandemic and can no longer afford to pay.” To access free content through the end of April just email simplehabit.com.

Smiling Mind Is a free app that has curated their content for Corona Virus fear on a page called “Thrive Inside.” This page has simple tips for self-care while working from home and for grounding yourself when difficult feelings become overwhelming. There are also PDFs you can download for your children for Mindful Baking and Mindful Coloring.

Mindfulness for Children

Mindful Schools: Mindfulness Class for Kids Mindful Schools has been a leader in bringing mindfulness to classrooms for the past 15 years. This free online class is offered live on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 1:00 and the past episodes have have been recorded and can be watched whenever it is convenient for you.

Mindful Play: Lessons in Mindfulness for Kids Daily 30 minutes lessons offered virtually live for free by Alexandra Midland.

Space Between a non profit in Seattle is offering free mindfulness and yoga through Facebook live on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The adult class is from 9-9:30, the children’s class is from 9:30-10

Parenting Resources for Parents Who Have Become Temporary Home School Teachers

Parents across the country are appreciating teachers more than ever now that we have found our roles in our children’s education so greatly increased. Some school districts are doing an amazing job of getting resources out and other are struggling. The first step is to create a consistent schedule for your child. Start with times for waking up and going to sleep, then add in meal times, times for exercise and times for relaxing. Finally consider what academic topics are important and add those to the schedule as well.

A Quick Teacher-Created Guide To Temporarily Homeschooling Your Kids This link is filled with great information and educational resources and links from a teacher and mother of two in Massachusetts.

Teacher: ‘You don’t have to strive for perfection’ When Homeschooling Your Kids Excellent tips about doing your best without putting too much pressure on yourself.

My 2020 Covid-19 Time Capsule created by a Natalie Long, a mother and graphic designer, and generously shared with others to help young kids journal about this time.

My Lock Down Diary another free option to help children document their experiences during this time of social distancing.

Parenting Resources for How to Talk to Kids About the Corona Virus

By now children know about Corona Virus and they understand that it is contagious and some people are dying. As you think about how to answer your children’s questions remember to be honest but give simple information at an age appropriate level. Explain to your children that their risk of having serious consequences is much less than the risk they face from the flu. Also explain why we are social distancing – because we are doing our job to make things safer for people who are higher risk (people with compromised immune systems, the elderly and health care workers on the front line). One more piece of advice: turn off the news and discourage children from reading about Corona Virus on the internet.

Caring For Each Other, Sesame Street Sesame street has put together a large collection of resources for parents to help support kids through this tough time. You can also click through on this page to Sesame Street in Communities, where you will find video, printables and other resources for talking to children about this difficult topic.

Parenting in the Time of Covid 19 The World Health Organization has put together a series of 6 infographics that cover different parenting strategies all of which will come in handy during this pandemic.

Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring the New Corona Virus  – this came out as the virus first hit America but the information is still relevant and delivered in a straightforward age appropriate way.

Talk To Kids About the Coronavirus – an article from the Child Mind Institute that helps you understand the importance of giving kids simple information while following their lead and not bombarding them.  It also covers the importance of keeping a routine.

Talking With Children About Coronavirus Disease – Walks you through step by step how to talk to your kids, the importance of staying calm, the importance of limiting kids exposure to the news/social media about this.

Tools and Tips for Parenting During the Covid-19 Pandemic – A Constructive Parenting post filled with quick helpful tips for getting through the Corona Virus.

Virtual Tele-Therapy

If you have found that feelings of stress and overwhelm have impacted your ability to connect with your children or your partner, consider finding a therapist who can work with you virtually. The right therapist will help you identify your strengths and build your capacity to tolerate difficult emotions like frustration, worry, and fear of the unknown. Even virtually it is easy to build simple coping tools that will allow you to feel more in control whether it is while you are on a work call or teaching your child long division.