Pandemic Parenting – Unfiltered Parenting isn’t often times uncharted territory under the best of circumstances, but throw a global pandemic into the mix and watch the stakes and stress go up as the pressure in the cooker begins to rise and rise and rise! Our teens have lost and will continue to experience loss for the foreseeable future at the hands of this pandemic whether family members, academic opportunity, time with friends, or sports training and participation. With loss comes grief and the need for tender, loving support from us as parents. Parents who strive to infuse resilience and innovation into the fabric of their being. It may not end up looking like we once had envisioned it. In fact, it can be far better as they learn a whole new skill set that propel them forward in ways not thought possible pre-pandemic. Come and be encouraged as we spend a morning with Tim Elmore of Norcross-based Growing Leaders, Inc. as he discuses Pandemic Parenting: UNFILTERED on 7/31, 9:15-10:30am. The kindness of your reply is much appreciated. Please email Stephanie Zimmerman at sdzhappy@gmail.com and the access link will be sent to you along with a reminder 2 days prior to the...
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Johns Creek High School Wellness Week 2017 “Do What’s Right For You,” the theme of this year’s Wellness Week at Johns Creek High School, is a much needed reminder that self-care is completely unique to each individual. With the world offering up a buffet style of never ending choices for everything from hybrid schedules and which classes to take to what color to dye your hair, an ongoing flow of social media, news flashes from around the world that are often disturbing, fierce competition in both sports and academics, financial concerns about paying for college and choosing a future career, not to mention the “old-school” typical worries like whether to go to the school dance or not, and who to go with, there is no lack of things to create stress and anxiety for our teens. Don’t get me wrong. Stress is not always a bad thing. We all have it, and it can help us be productive. Pushing through something challenging can help create resilience and meeting those hard-earned goals creates a sense of pride and confidence that is life changing! The key is learning to pay attention to the signals within ourselves that tell us when our stress levels are getting too high to be effective anymore. Knowing strategies to use during these high stress times, or to use regularly as a means of maintaining balance in this fast paced, often crazy world can help us all keep a fresh perspective, appreciate life more and be more productive. This all may sound simple, but it’s a concept that one must place some mental effort on at first, until eventually (hopefully) it is as second nature as breathing. We teach our kids to use good manners, so that they aren’t even thinking about it when they say “please” and “thank you.” Why not instill self-care the same way? Strategies can be simple, inexpensive and don’t have to take up a lot of time to be effective. Learning to know and accept one’s own strengths and weaknesses, both kids and parents, is key. If you know it will take you longer to process reading, for example, then taking AP World History might not be a good choice for you...
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