Worry, Worry, Worry

Too much worry.  For the last week and a half, Alex has been plagued with a whole lot of worries.  It started  one day when we got to the bus stop a little late and he thought we had missed the bus because no one else was outside.  We HADN'T missed the bus, but the waiting caused a near meltdown.  Over the course of the next week, things escalated to the point where he was freaking out and basically having panic attacks over seemingly random things -- Scott being at work, stoplights, being alone, waiting for church to start, waiting for church end, going to school, etc.

The poor kid has been a bit of a mess, crying almost all of the time and working himself up into a frenzy.  Hearing him talk about the feeling in his stomach that makes him think he's going to cry is both heartbreaking and adorable.  Based on the last week, plus previous "episodes" in the past year or so, I've come to the point where I think he probably has some anxiety issues, and I've been Googling some strategies for helping kids with panic attacks.

This morning, I mashed a couple of ideas together and created my own attempt at helping Alex cope with his worries.  Introducing...the "Worry Box" and the "Brave Box!"

I had Alex write down all the worries in his mind and then we put them in the box.  I told him that by writing them down and putting them in the Worry Box, he could get them out of his mind and not have to worry about them anymore.  Then we worked on our Brave Box.  We came up with a few different positive affirmation type statements to put in that box, for him to pull out and read whenever he was feeling scared again.  I joked with him that all he needed to do if those worries tried to sneak out of the box and get back in his mind was to yell at them to "GET BACK IN THAT WORRY BOX!" and then to read through his brave statements again.

(His worries included: I'm scared when dad is not here.  I'm scared of stoplights.  I'm worried when nobody's here.  I'm worried when I have to wait too long.)

(Our brave statements:  I can be brave.  I can wait long at the bus stop.  Waiting is HARD, but I can do HARD things.  I will take slow, deep breaths when I feel scared.  I am strong, capable, and competent.)

He really had fun writing things down and decorating his Brave Box with Mario pictures that we printed off online.  And then we really got to put things to the test after lunch, when he started getting a little teary as the walk to the bus stop grew imminent.  He cycled through the brave statements a few different times and told the worries to get back in the box a few more, and the cutest thing of all was hearing him read the statements to himself and follow it up with following the advice to slow down and breathe deeply if he was feeling scared.

We made it to the bus stop and experienced only a few tears as the bus took its time getting there {it's pretty much always late, which doesn't really help matters}, but at the end of the day, I really think our boxes worked for us today!  Which is fantastic.  And amazing.  And I really hope it continues to do the trick.  #fingerscrossed ;)