The Little Blue Book

Be alert to what’s ‘underneath’ Sometimes as a parent you do need to be a mind-reader. Depending on the ages of your children, and the stability and security of the family, the emotional impact of the coronavirus may be difficult to ‘read’. Their ability to process, interpret and deal with the information coming through the TV screen, and the information they glean from your responses and reactions, will vary according to age, how they cope with and manage stress, and their psychological resilience. Your being calm, reasoned, loving and open will help them to also be calm, reasoned, loving and open. Take extra care to ‘notice’ them and notice their feelings. Sometimes as adults (and we’ve all done this) we can get so caught up by worries – by the things impacting on our lives – that our gaze passes right over the heads of our children. We get so preoccupied that we can fail to notice that “they’re feeling it too”, that they can also feel like they’re carrying the weight of the family. How you model your behaviours to your children can strengthen or erode their feelings of security, resilience and anxiety response. 57 ADA Australia PostScript Section 1 Section 3 Section 2