Letting Kids Feel Their Feels

By Donna Shea & Nadine Briggs

Parents are faced with extremely challenging choices this fall as kids return to whatever school looks like for them. The same is true for parents who have kids who are returning to other public programs. This has become a very heated topic as we are all making decisions that we feel are best for our families while knowing that there aren’t any really great options to choose from for most people. Parents are feeling some pretty big feelings, which is absolutely understandable.

The question is, how much of this decision-making process should parents share with their kids? Depending on the age, maturity, and anxiety level of a child, some parents might ask their child how they feel about options being presented. Other parents, who know their kids well, might decide to make schooling decisions for their child. It is completely up to them as the ones who love and know their children best.

As coaches who work with kids of all ages, we feel that kids should be entitled to feel their own feelings around a return to formal education. Big adult feelings being shared with kids could make them feel more scared and more anxious than they already are given the uncertain school year. Adults, like all people, need to process and discuss their feelings in order to process all that’s going. We strongly urge parents to do that with other parents or adults.

Everyone needs to feel their feels and manage them in a way that works best for each individual.