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So here is a killer idea to inspire curiosity and keep your kids brains active and learning in a fun way. This summer I want you to sign up for a class@ixl.com Kirk and for your child to sign up. That way you are learning right alongside your child. They can see you wrestling with ideas, being curious and at times asking them for help. It's awesome modeling for your kids and it makes it feel like learning is a family adventure, not something you make them do. Ixcel is an award winning learning platform with an easy to navigate layout that uses interactive practice and step by step video tutorials that make it perfect for relaxed summer learning. So what class are you going to take this summer? Make an impact on your child's learning? Get get IXL now. Calm Parenting podcast listeners get an exclusive 20% off an IXL membership when you sign up today@ixl.com Kirk visit ixl.com Kirk to get the most effective learning program at the best price Our parents struggled with heart disease, Ms. and cancer, and the few tests at our annual exam don't tell us much. That's why Mrs. Kalm and I are getting over 160 tests with function Health this year. We we want to catch potential issues early and take proactive action. Function Health is the all in one health platform that helps you take control of your health through data. Instead of guessing what's happening inside your body, Function helps you know for sure with insights into thyroid function, hormones, autoimmunity, heavy metal toxicity and more. These same tests through your traditional health care can cost you up to $15,000. One with Function Health, you get two sets of tests per year so you can spot even subtle changes quickly. All of this is included for only $499 per year, but our listeners get a $100 credit towards your annual membership at functionhealth.com calm now the $100 credit is only for the first thousand listeners, so sign up right now at functionhealth.com calm that's functionhealth.com calm craving your next.

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You have a child who will provoke a big power struggle when you just try to get them to go to some new place or try a new activity? Maybe they're already hemming and hawing about not going to that expensive summer camp that they insisted you sign them up for. Maybe a child who refuses to go to school. Do you have a child who is nervous about family vacation or an upcoming move? Well, most of our kids struggle with anxiety, so I want to give you very specific strategies and scripts to help you with this on this episode of the Calm Parenting Podcast. So welcome. This is Kirk Martin, founder of Celebrate Calm and you can find us and our summer sale@celebratecolm.com look, when our kids resist, we tend to threaten consequences or try to bribe them. But nothing rational works because anxiety is not rational. Here is why many of our kids struggle with this so much. We have kids with very busy brains. It feels like thoughts and ideas and emotions are tumbling around like socks in a dryer. Some of our kids are very sensitive to the reactions of others and they struggle to connect with peers. So they anticipate feeling, feeling awkward or being rejected in new places. So it feels like so much of their lives are out of their control, which is why they try to control other people, situations and things. They can be bossy. You'll often find little acorns or stones in their pockets. They want to know exactly what the plan is and they often melt down when plans change. When you try to play board games with them, they change rules of the game, cheat or quit. That's a way to control the outcome of the game so, so they don't lose because if they lose, that makes them feel like a loser. It's why they wear the same hoodie and eat the same foods. Usually something like Mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, simple carbs. Because their stomach is upset, partly because of the anxiety. Anxiety is caused by unknowns, things you cannot control. Anxiety tends to create upset stomachs and cause people to control others and things. Some of us find comfort. Things that say, like in making sure the kitchen sink is clean before bedtime. Because we know I can't control my spouse or my kids, but my sink is spotless. It provides a sense of internal order. So let me do a few easier, quicker examples first than the tougher ones that usually cost you money. Okay, vacation example you're going on vacation this summer, so look up the condo that you're staying in online so that your kids can just get familiar familiar with the layout to know which bedroom is theirs, where it's located. Look, I'm a grown man who travels overseas quite a bit and I still like doing this. I like knowing where local restaurants and outdoor adventure stores are nearby. That familiarity when I walk into that place, even to know where to park, is very settling. Give your kids a mission. The mission on vacation isn't to just behave and not embarrass you in front of your family. It's a mission they can focus on, preferably some kind of adult job. They can plan outings for one day of your trip. Find a grocery store restaurant. They want to go to the cheapest place to rent a raft or jet skis or bikes. It gives them something they feel in control of and something they're good at doing, which is creating a success. So let's say that you're moving to a new city or home. Let them see where it is on Google Maps. They can see where the closest rock climbing place is. Plan some local adventures. If they're older, they can plan where they're going to meet other kids or get a job. Let them have some control within your limits of what color to paint their new bedroom. Remember, you want to give them a little bit of ownership, always within your boundaries and create that familiarity. What about kids who are starting a new school in the fall? Look, do not wait until back to school night to introduce your kids to their new teacher because on those back to school nights there is so much anxiety in that school. So physically take your kids to the new school over the summer. Let them walk around outside. Get familiar with the playground in the school. Get permission to walk the halls to see where the cafeteria is, maybe even to see where their locker is. One of my recurring nightmares that I have not frequently, but once in a while is I can't remember the combination to my locker and I'm going to be late to class. See if you can meet someone who's very warm and friendly before school begins, like an assistant principal, a guidance counselor, facilities manager, a receptionist in the front office, anyone who will be a familiar face and know your child's name, not just because they're in trouble. For little kids with separation anxiety, watch your tone of voice. If you're like, well, honey, you know what? I think you're going to have a good time today. And you know, I'll be back in a couple hours, see Trying to convince or reassure your kids that everything is okay, and using that voice that actually backfires on you. It makes them not believe you at all. So you have to use that confident, even matter of fact tone, even if you have to fake it, because otherwise they will pick up on your anxiety. So work on that. Let's give them a mission. Going into the school, I'd ask a teacher or someone from the school to meet you in the carpool line and say, oh, Rebecca, I'm so excited that you're here today. I'm. I could really use your help. Could you come inside and help me with X? See, now you're getting their brain focused on something they can do, something they can control, and that eliminates some of the anxiety. And it also helps the teacher get the child away from you and your own anxiety, because you've got to work on that. Now, here's one that I really love. And this is for older kids who really struggle with going to school. Because, look, middle school's tough. High school can be. And instead of a teacher or someone saying, caitlin, you know what? Why haven't you been here all week? You know, if you keep missing classes, you're going to fail. That's the least helpful thing you could say that guarantees that this girl will not come back again tomorrow. But I guarantee, if there were a teacher who said in a very even way, you know what? Nobody knows how much courage it took for you to get here today, but I'm glad you're here now. That will get an anxious kid of any age to school. So here's the bigger example. And this was very common with our son, Casey. I'd ask, case, do you want to take that new taekwondo class this summer? And he'd nod. And two weeks later, I'd come home and I'd say, hey, gotta go, gotta go. We got that new class tonight. Let's get going. And he would, of course, resist and say, dad, you know, my stomach's kind of upset tonight. Can we just stay home tonight? I promise I'll go next week. And I missed that clue at first, so I, of course, would respond first with a useless bribe. Hey, if we leave right now, we can stop at McDonald's and get a Happy Meal. That way we'll all be happy. And that doesn't work. So then I go the resentment and guilt trip route. My tone and face change become stern and demanding. You know What? I paid $175 for this class. Your little bet's going to be there. Well, this demanding tone Always triggers your kids to dig in even more. And it wasn't like my son was ever going to say, father, I didn't want to go because I have deep seated anxiety about being rejected and failing at this class. But now that I know how much it cost you, I'm motivated and happy to go. That's not happening. And I'm trying a rational, logical approach on a child who is decidedly not rational right now. Anxiety and most of our issues are not rational. They are driven by emotions and fears and anxiety, which is why love and logic is flawed, because it assumes that people make rational choices, but we don't. Very few of us do. And our kids don't care about consequences. So still not learning my lesson. I would then bark out harsh consequences and try to. Try to drag him out to the car and put him in the backseat like the cops do with suspects in those cop shows, right? Like hand over the head, like get in the car. And all the neighbors would be watching, and that would be awesome. And you've been there before with all your neighbors witnessing your child being defiant and throwing a huge meltdown and calling you names. That's partially what caused me to learn how to do this differently. Because at the time, we were living in a townhome outside Washington, D.C. where we had like 5,000 neighbors all packed together, and they could see all of my parenting mistakes right in front of them. And this is when your child stomps his or her feet and declares, no, I'm not going. Taekwondo's stupid. You're stupid. How many of you have ever gotten that lovely gift as a parent? So in the moment, we usually take this as defiance and disrespect. We react, we double down on the consequences. You know, what if you don't go to this class? No video games, no food for two weeks. All right, that's the guy version. We threaten consequences we can't keep but watch. This is really important. By reacting and taking it personally, we are missing a huge opportunity in this moment to teach, to give the child tools that will last him or her a lifetime to deal with their anxiety. And we miss the opportunity to bond with them. Look, this is not disrespect. We are misreading it. It's anxiety. If your child could articulate what he or she is feeling, they would say, mother, father, I am overwhelmed by all the unknowns this new activity represents. What if it's really loud and chaotic at that new place I've never been to? What if the taekwondo instructor isn't patient with Me, just like a lot of my teachers. What if the other kids pick on me? I struggle with multiple step processes. So what if I'm not good at Taekwondo and I fail? Then I'll feel like a loser and want to quit. But dad will yell at me for being a quitter. So could we retire to the den and speak about my anxiety? See, if they could say that, then you would know what's really going on underneath the surface. But we tend to react and assume the worst. I remember once saying, out of frustration, why do you have to make everything so difficult? And that will bruise a child's spirit. It will crush your relationship in ways you cannot imagine. That will make a kid begin to internalize. I'm a bad kid. I. I make everything difficult. My mom or my dad don't even like me. Now here's how brilliant your child is. Without even knowing it. They go right for the jugular. I'm not going. Well, if you were raised like me, man, that'll make you bristle. What makes you think that you can talk to me like that, young man? Right. You are not going to challenge my authority. And then they go to Taekwondo is stupid. You're stupid. Well, why do they go there? Because they know that then they are going to get sent to their room or worse. And that is still preferable to going to this new place. Because inside they're thinking, I would rather get sent to my room with no video games or food, because that's familiar to me. I'm used to that. That's better than going to this new place where I'm going to be rejected by another adult, picked on by peers and fail again. No effing way. See? Can you kind of see how that works? This is one reason consequences rarely work with these kids. You're not getting to the root of it. And we're needlessly escalating the situation. So let's rewind this situation and see how we can do it differently with a different result.