Little worriers…

My gorgeous little lady has turned into a bit of a worry wart and has started to worry about all sorts, including things like going to school and who she will play with today?  Are grandma and granddad OK as they’re getting older! What people think of her and what they will say to her. I too have worried about what Daisy may get ‘picked on’ for and her red hair was always at the back of my mind. We have always told her how magnificent it is, how lucky she is too have it and how it makes her special, but I suppose when you are 8 having something that is different from the rest of the class is not so good. Daisy loves books and reading and whenever she has been upset by something I have found a book we can read together which has a message within in. For example, when she was worrying that she was still a baby compared to the rest of her class, (she’s one of the youngest, they laugh, she said, because she stills calls us mummy and daddy and she still likes Peppa Pig, to name but a few) this book, IRA Sleeps over was fabulous. It touches on childhood issues and shows how even the tough guy still has a teddy when at home. Daisy and Bobby love it and it is such a good book to read together.

IRA Sleeps over

So, I did some investigating on children’s books for worriers and liking themselves and ordered quite a few. The 1st to arrive was this book The Huge Bag of Worries. It’s a hit and Daisy has been reading it in bed every night since she got it. The story tells of a young girl carrying an ever growing bag of all the things she is worrying about but not talking to people about. The ends shows her sharing these worries and how much better she feels for this.

The Huge Bag of Worries

The next book I bought, which is absolutely fabulous is this one, What to Do When You Worry Too Much: A Kid’s Guide to Overcoming Anxiety (What to Do Guides for Kids)
Aimed at ages 6-12 it talks about worries and breaks them down into terms that a child can understand. It also explains how to handle them. This is definitely a guide for both the parent and the child and talks about having ‘worry time’ and only thinking about worries at that time. Daisy loved it! I thought maybe she’d read too much for one sitting but she wanted to continue working through it.

I also mentioned to my wise friend the issue and how it is upsetting Daisy when people laugh at her. She said her little girl had felt exactly the same about how she looks and who she is and gave me this fabulous book to look at, I Like Myself! It really is great. It’s a poem, so very easy to follow and explains all the reasons we should like ourself. I will definitely be buying it.

I Like Myself!

Finally, this one arrived What I Like about Me!: A Book Celebrating Differences. Again a very good book. It talks about why it is wonderful to be unique and that being different is OK. At the end it asks them to look in a mirror and say what they like about themselves.

This is an upsetting little subject for Daisy and I would love to hear about your experiences. Do your children have worries? How have you handled these?

P.S; This book  My Secret Bully is fabulous for anyone having a bit of a hard time with bullies at school. It gives fabulous ideas to say to them without stooping to retaliation.

Thank you

Shelley x

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