Your Kid’s First Summer Away? How to Help Yourself Get Ready For Summer Camp?
As a mom, we are generally fully available to our family’s whims and demands, even if we work fulltime. Typically, we are responsible for the entire mental load for the household, organizing after-school care, getting lunches ready, and scheduling swimming lessons. We can’t help but feel overprotective of our baby, our first-born.
Our child’s first overnight summer camp experience brings about an exciting opportunity a break from the day-to-day mental load. The thing is, preparing our children for camp does not always prepare us and yes you did read “Homesick and Happy: How Time Away from Parent Can Help a Child Grow” by Michael Thompson.
We apply our typical approach to managing the anxiety. Every day we scour the online pictures for our happy kids faces, naturally worrying if we can’t find them. If we were bullied, its natural to worry that our child will have a similar experience.
It may also come with a fresh group of fears and anxious thoughts:
- How will our child enjoy their experience, will they get homesick?
- What happens if they get hurt?
- Did you pack all the necessary items they will need?
- Will they mail you letters (you gave them a list of self-addressed stamp envelopes)
When the children are away, take the opportunity to learn TM.
“The Transcendental Meditation technique helps promote mental and emotional well-being. It has especially helped my patients with depression, anxiety, and insomnia.” —Veronica Butler, M.D., author of A Woman’s Best Medicine
TM allows us settle effortlessly inward allowing you to settle inward beyond worries and agitation. By taking advantage of our children’s summer off, we can dedicate the extra time to “Me Time”.
By learning TM, our bodies will gain a deep state of relaxation and the mind becomes more serene. The whole physiology spontaneously shifts into a more balanced, harmonious style of functioning that is the extreme opposite of the stress response. Biochemicals in the bloodstream associated with tension and anxiety—such as cortisol and plasma lactate—are significantly reduced, and the brain functions with greater coherence.