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Tag Archives: helping kids with anxiety

Go Away, Mr. Worrythoughts! Contest

January 16, 2012   admin   14 Comments

Front cover of Go Away Mr. Worrythoughts

It is a brand new year and a great time to introduce a wonderful set of books by a very talented author named, “Nicky Johnson”. I had the pleasure of connecting with Nicky to talk to her about her amazing books. She was kind enough to offer us both “Go Away, Mr. Worrythoughts!” and “Happythoughts are Everywhere” so you know what that means….CONTEST TIME!!!!

Nicky has done a magnificent job of both writing these books and illustrating them. She shows us tools and tips at the end of each book that encourage kids to manage and overcome their anxiety.

Go Away, Mr. Worrythoughts is about:

Bayden is an intellient, confident and courageous boy. Yet his is worry thoughts can be quite unbearable. See how Bayden discovers his superpowers, takes control and is able to live free and happy!

This simple story has been nicely written and illustrated to help encourage children like Bayden manage and overcome their anxiety.

Happythoughts are Everywhere is about:

These days, Bayden is a happy and confident boy. There was a time, not long ago when Bayden worried about everything, ALL of the time. That was, until he discovered the power of Happythoughts!

Join Bayden’s journey as he goes in search of his happythoughts – you’ll never guess where he finds them!

This clever story has been written and illustrated to help children learn that by changing their thoughts, they can change their feelings. A simple strategy to help children take control of their anxiety!

I can’t tell you how much I think these books are essential for your “Toolbox“. Thanks so much Nicky for giving us a chance to put Happythoughts everywhere.

So if you’d like to have one of these beautiful and inspiring books in your toolbox here’s how to do it.

Ask your child to tell you what they like most about themselves! Share that with us.

Winners will be picked by random draw.

Contest closes at midnight February 20th, 2012!

 

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Anxiety can take a hike any time now..

January 04, 2012   admin   1 Comment

Hands of mother holding her childs hands

I know that this site was originally intended for “Social Anxiety” but over the last year it has become quite apparent that “anxiety” is debilitating more than just my daughter. In 2009 I went down a very tricky road with a massive panic attack leading me in the doors of our local emergency room, our daughter has had years full of social anxiety and now my son seems to share the same twisted fate suffering from “panic attacks”.

Last night while we were getting them ready for bed the tell tale signs of the panic began and unfortunately I didn’t catch it right away because I was so tired myself. For the third night in a row he’s had issues going to bed. He’s seems fine until we turn off the lights and the then the asking me to come in every 15 minutes until he’s asleep starts and I know we’re in for a rocky night.

“You are fine. You are in your own house.You are going to have great dreams”.


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Our Families 2012 Vision Board

January 01, 2012   admin   No comments

Over at “Our Journey Thru Autism” there was a post the other day about making a “Vision Board”. Do you make resolutions? Are your kids old enough? I personally don’t like calling them resolutions because I find the term not very optimist; instead we call them “Goals”. So when I saw the post I thought it would be a great way to ring in the new year and put an optimist perspective into 2012. The kids and I grabbed a big piece of board, pulled out the markers, felt stickers, glue sticks, old magazines and proceeded to figure out what we want to achieve both personally and as a family. We took everybody’s height measurement and the kids decided to do a little stick figure for each of us. We discovered that I am 5’3 1/2″ and my little boy is not so little any more he’s already 5′ 1″. So, for this year we deemed the year, “The Year of Magic” and I believe it will be magical. So here’s a sneak peak of what our board looked like and thank you so much to “Our Journey Thru Autism” for posting such a great activity for the whole family.
Here’s a little description of what a “Vision Board” is and ideas to get you started. If you do engage in this wonderful family activity please feel free to share pictures with us. What a great memory for 2012.

Vision Board for 2012

From “Our Journey Thru Autism” by Robin V Schwoyer
The kids are off. A new year is upon us. What to do now that the presents are all opened? How about making a Vision Board with your kids? A vision board is a collage of pictures, words, affirmations, goals and anything you would like to achieve or receive.

Better than the Breakable Resolution
We hear a lot about New Year Resolutions…and much about people not keeping them. What we have found fun to do is to create Vision Boards, or sometimes we call them Dream Boards. These creative projects are more useful than resolutions, simply because they tap into deeper parts of your self as you ponder and create. It’s a whole brain activity which is also multi-sensory, versus a left brained check list of to-do’s and not to-do’s.

A “Whole Family” Activity
You can make Vision Boards with the whole family. The board becomes a positive reminder of things like:
What do I want to learn this year?
What makes me smile?
What is a “crazy” fun thing I would like to do?
What can I do to make someone else happy?
How would I like to spend time with family and friends?
What are good values?
What do I love about nature?
How can I stay peaceful?
What are healthy things I can do?
What goals do I have for 2012?

Read the full article

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Have you ever written your kids a letter?

December 29, 2011   admin   1 Comment

The beginning of a new year is just around the corner and I have a little tradition. After we count down the New Year, we’ve listened to “Auld Lang Syne“, wished our company the best of the coming year and the house is silent I head into a quiet room with my computer and write the kids a letter.


The letter highlights their accomplishments of the year and gives me an opportunity to retell some great journeys and experiences. Some of these journeys that they may have forgotten about or while in the moment aren’t able to fully process. It’s just a little moment in time to give them a “time capsule” of their lives.

Once I’m finished writing each one I put it into their box and save it for a moment when they are a little older and will appreciate good old letters from Mom. I’m not sure what they’ll think of them when they read them but I’m hoping that they’ll enjoy going down memory lane and reading just how much they have grown up emotionally, physically and creatively.

Traditions are a great way of celebrating the past and there is something magical about sitting in the silence on the brand new morning of the new year and recalling the past so as to move forward and look towards the future.

If you’ve never tried writing a letter perhaps this year is a good year to start because it’s never too late.

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
Quote by Edith Lovejoy Pierce
Quote taken from ThinkExist.com

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Merry Christmas and all the best for a wonderful New Year

December 22, 2011   admin   2 Comments

I can’t believe it’s almost December 24th and already time to be thinking about goals for 2012. What a year it has been both for us as a family, for me starting up “Talk, Breathe, Live” and here at the blog. Here are some highlights:

January
Canada Post stamp competition-With the help of Sharon Pickering we ended up in 5th place out of over 300 submissions. Hard to believe that was almost a year ago.
April
Avril Webster’s – Off we Go series book contest
May
Started posting on S-O-S Research the Best of the Best blog
Started fundraising for the “Chocolate Race”
Mental Health awareness contest “Gayle Grass – Iris the Dragon”
Became a certified Life Coach and started “Talk Breathe Live”
July
Guest post by Diane Chesla from the “Chocolate Race”
August
Completed the “Chocolate Race” and raised over my goal of $500.00
Raised awareness of the “Chocolate Race” and the “Anxiety Disorder Association of Canada” by being featured in a local paper
September
Another contest give away of “Gayle Grass – Iris the Dragon” books
Became a member of “S-O-S Team”
October
Guest blog by Rhonda Ursulak of “Nature’s Backpack”
Guest blog by Karen Levangie of “Dark Shadow Studio”

I’ve blogged this year about gym class, successes, frustrations and tears of both joy and sadness. In the end I am happy that this year the blog has reached even more parents and families that are looking for answers and support. 2012 has so many good things in store; I can’t wait.

All of this great stuff would not have meant anything if it weren’t for you – my blog readers. You have shared parts of your life with us, you have opened up to some very personal feelings and you have reached out. You have thanked me for my resources, you have added to my resources and you make ever post I write feel so good. Thank you for welcoming the blog into your house.

This year, as it quickly is coming to a close I wish you a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Whichever celebration you partake in I wish you all the best and thanks for making 2011 the great year it was.

“Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.”
Larry Wilde quotes

Let’s make 2012 magical!

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