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Health & Fitness

Rushford's Back to School Checklist for Parents

Stress, hectic schedules and communicating with your children in busy times.

With the start of the new school year comes a whirlwind of activity and an overflow of information and dates to remember. All too often the joy of the new school year quickly gives way to dread. 

Please remember to slow down, enjoy these moments, and cherish them with your child. As a parent or caregiver you set the household tone. Children model and mimic behaviors of their parents whether those behaviors are good or bad.

Creating routines can help relieve stress. Routines should include eating dinner together as a family as often as possible. Family dinners provide a time to talk about the day's activities and plan for tomorrow.

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Parents can ease the hectic morning routines by having even young children select their next day’s wardrobe before they go to bed. Have your child pick out and pack their lunch before bedtime. Letting children be involved with minor decisions like their clothing and food can often relieve struggles over larger decisions.

As parents we have all most likely had those insignificant episodes that we have lost our tempers over. It is not typically the major incidents that cause distress, it is the lost shoe, the lunch that a child won’t eat, or some other occurrence causes us to erupt like a volcano. Honest, open dialogue among family members about routines, and how to handle unexpected last minute homework assignments, or forgotten school open houses can help with everyone’s expectations.

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Far too often young people report using alcohol or other drugs to relieve stress. In many instances they state that they are modeling parental behaviors.

In Connecticut the average age of first alcohol use is 11 years of age. This is when young people report drinking more than a sip of alcohol.  Family communication is key in preventing a child from engaging in risky behaviors. Parents greatly underestimate their power, but youth surveys show that parents actually serve as the number one preventative factor in keeping kids from using alcohol or other drugs. The beginning of school year is a great time to have discussions with your kids about alcohol or other drug use. Talk to them about the reasons they shouldn’t drink alcohol or use other substances.  Set clear no-use expectations for alcohol and other drugs. Determine appropriate consequences if one of those rules is broken and enforce rules consistently.

Please feel free to use tools like the Back-To-School Checklist (Attached in PDF and as a photo) for parents. If you need additional resources or information, please don’t hesitate to contact me at Rushford at 203-630-5357.

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