August 23, 2024 • 17 mins
Navigating the first week of school can feel like an emotional rollercoaster. The transition back to school can be challenging for both parents and children, especially in terms of adjusting to a stable routine. There has been an increase in crisis calls involving kids and teenagers during the back-to-school period, highlighting the importance of supporting children during this transition. Parenting comes with a lot of pressure and anxiety, but finding a balance between involvement and allowing your child to navigate their own challenges is crucial.
Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast laun
Have you ever wanted to start your own podcast? Start for FREE Buzzsprout using this link.
For more mental health resources, blogs, and other podcast episodes, please visit:
IG: mentalhealth.ish
Website: www.mentalhealth-ish.com
Host: zuppysue
Please like, subscribe, & write a 5 star! Don't forget to share this episode :)
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everyone, welcome back to the Mental
Health-ish podcast.
It is your host, susie.
So we did it.
We made it through the firstweek of school, and if your kids
have still yet to go back toschool, good luck to you.
But I'm just so glad that Emmais finally back in school and
(00:20):
we're kind of getting back intoa more stable routine, because
during summer break it was kindof like a free for all.
I mean, she was going to sleepat two in the morning, midnight
we were up playing games, likeit was just wild.
And so I'm really glad tofinally have her back in school
(00:41):
and just kind of get a morestable routine going.
Because even during the summerI see private therapy clients
and it was just hard to fitclients in into the week with
Emma being home, and so I wasscheduling like every two weeks
and just so far apart, and sonow I feel like we're finally
(01:03):
getting into the groove ofthings.
But I don't know, it's just beenlike a really busy week.
So last week was Emma's firstfull week back at school and it
was a tough one.
I'm not going to lie.
As some of you guys may know, Iwork nights at my full-time job
(01:26):
, and so I start work at 3 pmwell, 3, 30 pm and I'm not off
until like almost 2 in themorning, and so that was really
hard for me.
Just that transition back intowaking up early and getting Emma
ready for school, dropping heroff so I think that's been like
(01:47):
the biggest.
One of the biggest challengesfor me with Emma going back to
school is just, on the days thatI do work, just getting home
trying to fall asleep right away, which is hard, and then waking
up just three to four hourslater to get her ready for
school.
So we'll see how things go, howthings continue.
(02:10):
But this whole going back toschool thing, really it was a
busy week, and not only that,but even at work.
I work as a crisis interventionI guess social worker you could
say and the amount of callsthat we have been getting for
(02:31):
crisis involving like kids andteenagers has been crazy.
Like we've literally been sobusy with calls involving kids,
calls involving kids.
So I'm not sure if it's justlike kids are having a hard time
transitioning back into schooland like changes in routine,
(02:52):
things like that, but that'sjust like.
Something that I noticed isthat we are getting a lot of
calls for that.
So, yeah, if you're goingthrough this transition period
too, I would highly suggest tojust talk to your kids about it
and just kind of see right howyou can make this transition
(03:12):
easier for them.
But anywho, we did back toschool night we met Emma's
teacher and for back to schoolnight and for back to school
night she had us, you know, lookover.
It was kind of like an overviewof the upcoming school year.
(03:33):
So they started talking aboutall of the different things that
Emma will be learning this year.
You know side words, reading,math, you know all that stuff.
And I couldn't help but feellike some sort of PTSD, just
(03:57):
based off Emma's experience atschool from last year I don't
think I've talked about this onthe podcast before, but ever
since like Emma started school,even like, I think, tk and she
just started second grade, bythe way ever since like Emma
started TK, like it's beendifficult, not like over the top
(04:19):
difficult, but she's she's hadsome challenges.
I will say say that, and I knew,you know right off the bat that
she was going to havechallenges, because Emma's
always been a little delayed inmilestones compared to her peers
, like even as a little you knowkid, a little baby.
(04:40):
She started be.
She started, I feel, walkinglike a little later.
She started like talking alittle later, things like that.
She was doing speech for awhile, potty training, like all
the typical milestones like forkids, and so, even like before
(05:01):
she started TK, I knew that shewas going to need like some
support, like some additionalsupport, some help.
I felt like I had to let theteacher know and kind of give
her a heads up like hey, youknow she might need a little
more help or you know whatever.
And I don't know if that's justmy anxiety as a mom and I don't
(05:24):
know if any of you can relateto that If you have kids but I
don't know if that was just myanxiety with Emma having to
start school.
But that's the way that I feltand so I remember initially I
requested an IEP, which I mean,I'm not an IEP expert so I don't
(05:48):
know exactly how to explain itbut it's basically like, I guess
, a plan that you can requestfrom the school where you sit
down, like with the principaland like psychologists, I guess,
special education coordinator,like it's a team meeting, and
you basically like express yourconcerns, you talk about like
(06:12):
what you think that your kidneeds like help with you know,
stuff like that.
And so they come up with somesort of plan.
They do testing.
Sometimes they refer you, youknow they'll figure out what the
kit needs.
And so I remember I requestedthat for Emma at the start of,
(06:34):
because I kind of had thatfeeling like she was going to
need, right like that,additional support or whatnot.
And silly me like, obviously,like Emma's my only child, so
I'm kind of learning things as Igo, and yeah, so I requested
this thing and I had a meetingand basically they told me you
(06:55):
know, she's just starting TK, sojust you just kind of have to
wait it out and see.
They're like just wait and seehow she does.
You know she's in tk, like, um,she has to adjust, you know
things like that.
So I was like, okay, I guess.
Um, I was like that sounds, Iguess, reasonable.
(07:16):
I don't know, I don't know howthese things work, so I don't
know, maybe she does need toadjust, I don't know.
So I remember that was that andnothing happened.
And then, yeah, like Emma had ahard time.
I'll just say that she's done alot of improvement up to this
point where, thankfully, she'sno longer hitting kids.
(07:41):
She's, you know, not makinglike huge messes in the
classroom, which was like a bigissue for her last year no, in
kindergarten, to the point thather teacher wanted her to get
tested and there was someconcerns.
You know things like that andthat's like as a parent, like
(08:04):
the last thing that you want tohear, right for your child, is
that she's having a hard time atschool.
She needs to be tested to seehow she could be helped.
You know things like that.
So I went through that whole IEPprocess again last school year
for first grade and it was justhorrible, like literally
(08:26):
horrible.
You know they did testing,things like that, and I don't
know they thought that because Iwas requesting, you know, this
meeting that I was looking forher to go to special education
classes, I don't know, but Ikind of feel like the
psychologist and mind you, likeI work in the mental health
(08:51):
field Like I don't know, I kindof felt like she tested her into
like special education classes,completely just ignoring
everything else, because maybeshe thought like that's what I
wanted for her.
I don't know, it was like thisbig thing and it's kind of.
It was like a reallyfrustrating like period for me
(09:12):
in my life, like a few monthsago, towards the end of the
school year, because I feel likeEmma has I don't want to say
ADHD, but I feel like she hasmaybe ADD to, where she gets
distracted very easily.
She gets up like she fidgets,like she's just touching
(09:32):
everything, like that type ofthing.
But they were just completelydisregarding that and so they
hadn't recommended for her to goto special education classes,
which I thought was completelylike just inappropriate, a
hundred percent.
And like I didn't want to bedifficult.
I have nothing against likeobviously, special education
(09:54):
classes and people like you knowI think that's a great resource
, but for Emma I didn't think itwas appropriate and I remember
going into these classrooms andbecause I did classroom visits I
did classroom visits like at acouple different schools because
I wanted to just see and Iwanted to make the best educated
(10:15):
decision, you know, and I justright away knew like no, like I
don't think Emma belongs here,you know, I think she needs just
additional support, like atutor or maybe some
accommodations where she couldlike go get up, you know, and
she needs like a breather,things like that, and so I felt
(10:42):
at the time just very likepushed into a corner.
I guess you could say to wherethe school was, like no, like
you either accept the specialeducation classes or there's
nothing we could do.
Like we don't haveaccommodations here.
You know things like that which, up to this day, I'm like
(11:03):
that's, I just don't believethat.
I just think that's BS.
Like how can you not provide abasic accommodation, right, like
for ADHD or something like that?
And so, needless to say, like Iknow I'm all over the place,
but man, like that was sodifficult to go through and if
(11:23):
you've ever gone through thatprocess, you know like it's just
so hard.
Like even just talking about itright now, like it's just yeah,
it's Because, and thenespecially like if you've never
been through that experiencebefore, like it was just
horrible.
I felt like pushed into a cornerto make this decision for her,
(11:46):
and then I was like overthinkingand like beating myself up
because I wanted to make surethat I was making like the right
decision, you know, for her.
And I was like just it wasstressful, I'll say that Like I
was literally up at night justthinking about it.
(12:06):
You know, on top of just liferight, like other things going
on in life.
And so ultimately, I decided todecline the special education
classes and so she just ended upgoing to summer school and
she's just going to continuelike in her regular school and
(12:29):
regular classes.
And so, yeah, going back to theback to school that we're
currently in, like it's justbeen like PTSD, because now I'm
like, oh my gosh, like here weare, another school year, like I
want her to do well, I want herto, you know, learn her words,
(12:50):
I want her to do good in math,like I just want her to do well
and which I know that she had ahard time last year.
But now I'm kind of just likefeeling I don't want to say
guilty, but just, you know, Idon't know.
Like it's just like this amountof pressure as a parent that
you put on yourself, you know,like if she doesn't do well,
(13:14):
it's like your fault, you know,because you're not doing enough,
or, in my situation, because Ididn't accept the special
education classes, I don't know,even though I don't think she
needed them, but it's still likejust this added pressure.
And so, like this past week forback to school has just been
(13:36):
like it was just hard, like Iwas just.
I was sitting in that back toschool meeting like taking notes
and like writing things downthat she needed to, you know,
practice and like I, you know,made copies of all the cause.
She gave us like a list ofwords like this is week one,
week two, you know, whatever.
So I'm just like uh, likeoverly anxious about it and like
(14:00):
making sure that she'spracticing you know x, y and z,
but then also like trying tobalance things off with
obviously I don't want her toburn out, so like only doing it,
you know, these days, and it'sjust been crazy.
So, yes, yes, having kids,school-aged kids.
(14:21):
I'll say that is yeah, it'sjust a different level unlocked
in parenting.
So let me know if you guys havehad any of those experiences.
But yeah, it just made me likeback to school week, just made
me think of all of that, all ofthose things from last year, and
(14:42):
like this overly, like thisanxiety and like pressure for me
to help her and for her to dowell, and you know, trying to
help her like make friends,things like that, like it's just
a lot, it's a lot.
And so parenting is hard, it'snot easy, and yeah, and then
(15:05):
also, with that, made me thinkabout like, wow, like my mom had
it easy with me, like growingup, like growing up by.
She never went to any of myparent conferences.
She never went to any of myparent conferences.
She never went to any back toschool.
Like she didn't go to anything,like she was completely
uninvolved, didn't know what Iwas learning in school and I
(15:26):
somehow managed to be like ingifted classes and just doing so
well and I'm just like what wasthe missing?
I don't know like what's, likewhat's the missing link?
Right, but yeah, it just mademe think of that, like, wow, she
had it so easy and at the sametime, like she was so uninvolved
(15:46):
, like what happened?
And now I'm over here maybelike overthinking and just like
over worrying and being tryingto be too involved.
I, I don't know, but I'm surethere, yeah, there has to be a
balance, there has to be aviolence.
I know, I know, but anywho, Iwanted to share that experience
(16:10):
with you all.
Let me know how your back toschool went or is going, if you
have kiddos going back to schoolthis week, or even if maybe you
had experiences in the pastwith back to school.
How did it go for you?
What happened?
And, yeah, remember to takecare of yourself and schedule
(16:33):
breaks in between all of yourresponsibilities, even if it's a
five-minute break, to just sitdown and just take a few deep
breaths and just be completelypresent in the moment, because I
know it can be so easy to justoverwhelm ourselves with all of
the responsibilities that wehave as a parent.
(16:56):
You know, if you're working,whatever it is, if you're a
business owner like there's justalways so many things happening
and if you don't take thesebreaks, like you will burn out
at some point, like there's onlyso much you could do.
So remember to take your muchneeded breaks, and especially
(17:16):
during back-school season,because it is craziness,
absolute craziness, and not tomention all the back-to-school
shopping like that's just awhole different story, a whole
different story.
So, anyways, thanks forlistening and I hope to hear
your experiences.
Remember to like, subscribe andshare this podcast with a
(17:39):
friend and I will talk to youguys next time.
Thank you.
Hello everyone, welcome back to the Mental
Health-ish podcast.
It is your host, susie.
So we did it.
We made it through the firstweek of school, and if your kids
have still yet to go back toschool, good luck to you.
But I'm just so glad that Emmais finally back in school and
(00:20):
we're kind of getting back intoa more stable routine, because
during summer break it was kindof like a free for all.
I mean, she was going to sleepat two in the morning, midnight
we were up playing games, likeit was just wild.
And so I'm really glad tofinally have her back in school
(00:41):
and just kind of get a morestable routine going.
Because even during the summerI see private therapy clients
and it was just hard to fitclients in into the week with
Emma being home, and so I wasscheduling like every two weeks
and just so far apart, and sonow I feel like we're finally
(01:03):
getting into the groove ofthings.
But I don't know, it's just beenlike a really busy week.
So last week was Emma's firstfull week back at school and it
was a tough one.
I'm not going to lie.
As some of you guys may know, Iwork nights at my full-time job
(01:26):
, and so I start work at 3 pmwell, 3, 30 pm and I'm not off
until like almost 2 in themorning, and so that was really
hard for me.
Just that transition back intowaking up early and getting Emma
ready for school, dropping heroff so I think that's been like
(01:47):
the biggest.
One of the biggest challengesfor me with Emma going back to
school is just, on the days thatI do work, just getting home
trying to fall asleep right away, which is hard, and then waking
up just three to four hourslater to get her ready for
school.
So we'll see how things go, howthings continue.
(02:10):
But this whole going back toschool thing, really it was a
busy week, and not only that,but even at work.
I work as a crisis interventionI guess social worker you could
say and the amount of callsthat we have been getting for
(02:31):
crisis involving like kids andteenagers has been crazy.
Like we've literally been sobusy with calls involving kids,
calls involving kids.
So I'm not sure if it's justlike kids are having a hard time
transitioning back into schooland like changes in routine,
(02:52):
things like that, but that'sjust like.
Something that I noticed isthat we are getting a lot of
calls for that.
So, yeah, if you're goingthrough this transition period
too, I would highly suggest tojust talk to your kids about it
and just kind of see right howyou can make this transition
(03:12):
easier for them.
But anywho, we did back toschool night we met Emma's
teacher and for back to schoolnight and for back to school
night she had us, you know, lookover.
It was kind of like an overviewof the upcoming school year.
(03:33):
So they started talking aboutall of the different things that
Emma will be learning this year.
You know side words, reading,math, you know all that stuff.
And I couldn't help but feellike some sort of PTSD, just
(03:57):
based off Emma's experience atschool from last year I don't
think I've talked about this onthe podcast before, but ever
since like Emma started school,even like, I think, tk and she
just started second grade, bythe way ever since like Emma
started TK, like it's beendifficult, not like over the top
(04:19):
difficult, but she's she's hadsome challenges.
I will say say that, and I knew,you know right off the bat that
she was going to havechallenges, because Emma's
always been a little delayed inmilestones compared to her peers
, like even as a little you knowkid, a little baby.
(04:40):
She started be.
She started, I feel, walkinglike a little later.
She started like talking alittle later, things like that.
She was doing speech for awhile, potty training, like all
the typical milestones like forkids, and so, even like before
(05:01):
she started TK, I knew that shewas going to need like some
support, like some additionalsupport, some help.
I felt like I had to let theteacher know and kind of give
her a heads up like hey, youknow she might need a little
more help or you know whatever.
And I don't know if that's justmy anxiety as a mom and I don't
(05:24):
know if any of you can relateto that If you have kids but I
don't know if that was just myanxiety with Emma having to
start school.
But that's the way that I feltand so I remember initially I
requested an IEP, which I mean,I'm not an IEP expert so I don't
(05:48):
know exactly how to explain itbut it's basically like, I guess
, a plan that you can requestfrom the school where you sit
down, like with the principaland like psychologists, I guess,
special education coordinator,like it's a team meeting, and
you basically like express yourconcerns, you talk about like
(06:12):
what you think that your kidneeds like help with you know,
stuff like that.
And so they come up with somesort of plan.
They do testing.
Sometimes they refer you, youknow they'll figure out what the
kit needs.
And so I remember I requestedthat for Emma at the start of,
(06:34):
because I kind of had thatfeeling like she was going to
need, right like that,additional support or whatnot.
And silly me like, obviously,like Emma's my only child, so
I'm kind of learning things as Igo, and yeah, so I requested
this thing and I had a meetingand basically they told me you
(06:55):
know, she's just starting TK, sojust you just kind of have to
wait it out and see.
They're like just wait and seehow she does.
You know she's in tk, like, um,she has to adjust, you know
things like that.
So I was like, okay, I guess.
Um, I was like that sounds, Iguess, reasonable.
(07:16):
I don't know, I don't know howthese things work, so I don't
know, maybe she does need toadjust, I don't know.
So I remember that was that andnothing happened.
And then, yeah, like Emma had ahard time.
I'll just say that she's done alot of improvement up to this
point where, thankfully, she'sno longer hitting kids.
(07:41):
She's, you know, not makinglike huge messes in the
classroom, which was like a bigissue for her last year no, in
kindergarten, to the point thather teacher wanted her to get
tested and there was someconcerns.
You know things like that andthat's like as a parent, like
(08:04):
the last thing that you want tohear, right for your child, is
that she's having a hard time atschool.
She needs to be tested to seehow she could be helped.
You know things like that.
So I went through that whole IEPprocess again last school year
for first grade and it was justhorrible, like literally
(08:26):
horrible.
You know they did testing,things like that, and I don't
know they thought that because Iwas requesting, you know, this
meeting that I was looking forher to go to special education
classes, I don't know, but Ikind of feel like the
psychologist and mind you, likeI work in the mental health
(08:51):
field Like I don't know, I kindof felt like she tested her into
like special education classes,completely just ignoring
everything else, because maybeshe thought like that's what I
wanted for her.
I don't know, it was like thisbig thing and it's kind of.
It was like a reallyfrustrating like period for me
(09:12):
in my life, like a few monthsago, towards the end of the
school year, because I feel likeEmma has I don't want to say
ADHD, but I feel like she hasmaybe ADD to, where she gets
distracted very easily.
She gets up like she fidgets,like she's just touching
(09:32):
everything, like that type ofthing.
But they were just completelydisregarding that and so they
hadn't recommended for her to goto special education classes,
which I thought was completelylike just inappropriate, a
hundred percent.
And like I didn't want to bedifficult.
I have nothing against likeobviously, special education
(09:54):
classes and people like you knowI think that's a great resource
, but for Emma I didn't think itwas appropriate and I remember
going into these classrooms andbecause I did classroom visits I
did classroom visits like at acouple different schools because
I wanted to just see and Iwanted to make the best educated
(10:15):
decision, you know, and I justright away knew like no, like I
don't think Emma belongs here,you know, I think she needs just
additional support, like atutor or maybe some
accommodations where she couldlike go get up, you know, and
she needs like a breather,things like that, and so I felt
(10:42):
at the time just very likepushed into a corner.
I guess you could say to wherethe school was, like no, like
you either accept the specialeducation classes or there's
nothing we could do.
Like we don't haveaccommodations here.
You know things like that which, up to this day, I'm like
(11:03):
that's, I just don't believethat.
I just think that's BS.
Like how can you not provide abasic accommodation, right, like
for ADHD or something like that?
And so, needless to say, like Iknow I'm all over the place,
but man, like that was sodifficult to go through and if
(11:23):
you've ever gone through thatprocess, you know like it's just
so hard.
Like even just talking about itright now, like it's just yeah,
it's Because, and thenespecially like if you've never
been through that experiencebefore, like it was just
horrible.
I felt like pushed into a cornerto make this decision for her,
(11:46):
and then I was like overthinkingand like beating myself up
because I wanted to make surethat I was making like the right
decision, you know, for her.
And I was like just it wasstressful, I'll say that Like I
was literally up at night justthinking about it.
(12:06):
You know, on top of just liferight, like other things going
on in life.
And so ultimately, I decided todecline the special education
classes and so she just ended upgoing to summer school and
she's just going to continuelike in her regular school and
(12:29):
regular classes.
And so, yeah, going back to theback to school that we're
currently in, like it's justbeen like PTSD, because now I'm
like, oh my gosh, like here weare, another school year, like I
want her to do well, I want herto, you know, learn her words,
(12:50):
I want her to do good in math,like I just want her to do well
and which I know that she had ahard time last year.
But now I'm kind of just likefeeling I don't want to say
guilty, but just, you know, Idon't know.
Like it's just like this amountof pressure as a parent that
you put on yourself, you know,like if she doesn't do well,
(13:14):
it's like your fault, you know,because you're not doing enough,
or, in my situation, because Ididn't accept the special
education classes, I don't know,even though I don't think she
needed them, but it's still likejust this added pressure.
And so, like this past week forback to school has just been
(13:36):
like it was just hard, like Iwas just.
I was sitting in that back toschool meeting like taking notes
and like writing things downthat she needed to, you know,
practice and like I, you know,made copies of all the cause.
She gave us like a list ofwords like this is week one,
week two, you know, whatever.
So I'm just like uh, likeoverly anxious about it and like
(14:00):
making sure that she'spracticing you know x, y and z,
but then also like trying tobalance things off with
obviously I don't want her toburn out, so like only doing it,
you know, these days, and it'sjust been crazy.
So, yes, yes, having kids,school-aged kids.
(14:21):
I'll say that is yeah, it'sjust a different level unlocked
in parenting.
So let me know if you guys havehad any of those experiences.
But yeah, it just made me likeback to school week, just made
me think of all of that, all ofthose things from last year, and
(14:42):
like this overly, like thisanxiety and like pressure for me
to help her and for her to dowell, and you know, trying to
help her like make friends,things like that, like it's just
a lot, it's a lot.
And so parenting is hard, it'snot easy, and yeah, and then
(15:05):
also, with that, made me thinkabout like, wow, like my mom had
it easy with me, like growingup, like growing up by.
She never went to any of myparent conferences.
She never went to any of myparent conferences.
She never went to any back toschool.
Like she didn't go to anything,like she was completely
uninvolved, didn't know what Iwas learning in school and I
(15:26):
somehow managed to be like ingifted classes and just doing so
well and I'm just like what wasthe missing?
I don't know like what's, likewhat's the missing link?
Right, but yeah, it just mademe think of that, like, wow, she
had it so easy and at the sametime, like she was so uninvolved
(15:46):
, like what happened?
And now I'm over here maybelike overthinking and just like
over worrying and being tryingto be too involved.
I, I don't know, but I'm surethere, yeah, there has to be a
balance, there has to be aviolence.
I know, I know, but anywho, Iwanted to share that experience
(16:10):
with you all.
Let me know how your back toschool went or is going, if you
have kiddos going back to schoolthis week, or even if maybe you
had experiences in the pastwith back to school.
How did it go for you?
What happened?
And, yeah, remember to takecare of yourself and schedule
(16:33):
breaks in between all of yourresponsibilities, even if it's a
five-minute break, to just sitdown and just take a few deep
breaths and just be completelypresent in the moment, because I
know it can be so easy to justoverwhelm ourselves with all of
the responsibilities that wehave as a parent.
(16:56):
You know, if you're working,whatever it is, if you're a
business owner like there's justalways so many things happening
and if you don't take thesebreaks, like you will burn out
at some point, like there's onlyso much you could do.
So remember to take your muchneeded breaks, and especially
(17:16):
during back-school season,because it is craziness,
absolute craziness, and not tomention all the back-to-school
shopping like that's just awhole different story, a whole
different story.
So, anyways, thanks forlistening and I hope to hear
your experiences.
Remember to like, subscribe andshare this podcast with a
(17:39):
friend and I will talk to youguys next time.
Thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!