Our family and other parents in our circle are growing more and more concerned about the ongoing changes with the upcoming school year. Can you provide tips on managing the unknown, like dealing with a lack of set schedules and how to know the right amount of daily structure to provide our children? How do we make up for their lack of social interaction opportunities while keeping their screen time at a minimum?

The past few months have been challenging for everyone – especially our kids – due to major changes to their school and social structures. As we enter the fall school year, students of all ages are feeling the stress and anxiety of new uncertainties and protocols.

To help students prepare for the upcoming challenges they may face due to COVID’s impact on their classroom and overall school experience, the mental health experts at our Minneapolis agency, Nexus-FACTS Family Healing have developed a new online Resiliency Camp. The camp will run from Aug. 17 through Aug. 21 each day from 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm CST open to anyone between 12-18 years old. The cost of the camp is $55 and registration is available at resiliencycamp.eventbrite.com.

I was told that I should get my child into therapy to deal with his hyperactivity. How do I find a good therapist and then how do I know if the therapist is any good?

We have visited our doctor for a few regular check-ups and she is telling us that our son has depression. He does not seem sad and he is not crying all the time like we would expect if he really was depressed. Why would she think he has depression?

I found a comment on my daughter’s social media having to do with feeling hopeless and not wanting to be around anymore. I am worried about her but do not want to make it a big deal if it’s not. What should I do?

Do you remember the profound sense of boredom that could inflict you as a child? Perhaps with the influx of screens many kids access at will, they don’t have those loooong summer afternoons with nothing to do; the times when it’s on you to make up your own fun. Here we are in 2020, the plaintive “but what will we do?” is being heard again across our child welfare systems as families and kids interact socially distanced, through a video camera or outside. To answer that plea, we offer this list of activities you can do distanced, both with and without materials or objects. 

When asked, “How are you doing?” the answer is always some version of “as well as I can be.” Many things that we used to anchor our safety and security to are gone. And the initial strategy of waiting it out is simply inadequate. Like a child holding their breath to get their way, it just can’t last. As I needed to make peace with the fact that the ground is and will be about as steady as quicksand, I searched for a metaphor to get me through the tough times.

My 4-year-old is really aggressive, and it seems to be getting worse. Other parents do not want him around their children, and before we were all staying at home because of the pandemic, I was getting complaints from daycare. What should I do?

Our daughter was adopted and we don’t know if we should tell her. If we do tell her, we don’t know when to tell her.

With celebrations, graduation parties, and preparing for college in the fall, many young adults completing high school are itching with anticipation to leave “the nest.” These young adults may feel a newly found freedom and take for granted their intricately woven support system that helps them along the way.  For young adults in foster care who are graduating from high school, this transition often looks much different.