The POWER of ME School pick up time… Easily my favourite time of the day! I'm ready. I have my healthy after school snacks packed neatly inside my bag (and a little treat too). I have my work day packed away neatly inside a compartment in my mind, not to be opened until tomorrow. I have the afternoon clear at home, so my daughter and I can have unlimited quality time to share all of the fun and excitement of her first day of Year 3! My eyes scan for her among the sea of children swarming out of school. I search for her long brown plaits, the 'half-skip, half-bounce' that she does when she's bounding out of school with her friends, and the sunny smile that lights up her whole face. Then I see her friends, but she's not with them like she usually is. Then I see her. She is walking alone. I know instantly that something is not right. Her shoulders are slumped; she drags her feet; she stares at the ground. When she finally looks up at me, her big brown eyes shine with tears and she erupts into heartfelt sobs as soon as we are in the privacy of our car. Day after day, this becomes the new 'normal’. Something is wrong. But she can't seem to tell me how she's feeling; she can't seem to put it into words. When she does share things, they come out in a big jumble, like mixed up puzzle pieces that don't fit together, no matter which way you turn them…“I wish I was in another class. I don't understand maths. Things aren't the same this year. I'm bad at sport. I don't want a birthday 8
party. What if my friends don't like me anymore?” We try the same old family bag of tricks to try and cheer her up, but even my husband's 'dad jokes' don't work like they used to. She's lost the power to feel good about herself. Somehow I need to find a way to help her get it back..
As our children grow older, they begin to experience the roller coaster of ups and downs that is called 'real life'. Sometimes things don't go well, sometimes things are tough, and sometimes people aren't nice to you. That's the reality. It's especially hard at the beginning of the school year, when classes change, friendships change, and everything feels so much more complicated. As our children grow up, we wish we could keep solving all their issues for them (just like we did when they were little and a Mickey Mouse band aid solved everything), but we can't. Instead, we need to help them find a way to express their feelings and to find their own power to make themselves feel better when they are challenged by life's twists and turns. You and your child can start by imagining that you have a 'Ball of Power' inside you, which reflects how you are feeling about yourself. When you feel happy and confident, your Ball of Power is big and full, glowing golden and bright, shining through in everything that you do. But when you feel miserable and negative, your Ball of Power deflates like a balloon that has been popped with a pin, taking away the positive light that shines through your mind and body.
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