School’s On!  While doing a little research about the start of the school year I ran across an article in the Montreal Gazette (online version) with the title:

HELP KIDS AVOID LOUSY START AT SCHOOL

That title got me interested.  I mean, who wants to have their children start school and have it be a lousy experience!  I wondered if the article would address such things as academic demands, the tendency for kids to become too involved in too many extracurricular activities, the challenges of relationships in high school, the unfortunate reality of bullying that occurs far too often in our schools, and family problems at home that make performance at school difficult for kids.

Imagine my surprise (and probably yours now) when I read the subtitle which said:

Tiny parasites keep turning up year after year; Advice available on detection, getting rid of pesky problem

I wasn’t expecting that.  Not because I’m unfamiliar with the little buggers.  They have found their way into our home in the past, and I proudly proclaim we were victorious over our foe!  It’s just that I’m a psychotherapist and my mind tends to run to other things that can lead to a lousy start to the school year.

I do not have a ton of advice for you.  No ten steps on how to prevent a lousy start to the school year for your children.  No magic formula that will make it easy for your kids.  No new pill on the market that will increase your child’s desire to study.

But I do have one age-old idea to throw your way, one time-tested approach to parenting that can help your children deal with life in school and out of school.  It’s an idea we have lost some connection to in our rapid-fire culture.  I want to encourage you to BE AVAILABLE to your children.  Yeah, it’s that simple, …and that difficult.

We sometimes make the mistake as parents of acting as if our children are a cumbersome interruption in our adult lives, when in fact our adult lives (American style) are the interruption in our children’s development into healthy, stable adults.  So find your way to meaningful availability to your children and I suspect you will see the kind of positive results that can prevent a lousy start to the school year.  It’s that simple, …and that difficult.