Navigating the Challenges of a New School Year with Anxiety and ADHD

The beginning of the school year always brings its own set of unique challenges that you’re not aware of until it’s happening. There is almost no preparing for this thing with kids are they are predictably unpredictable. Oh, last year, when school started, my son would fall asleep immediately upon getting home, and then be up all night. This year, we are having a different set of challenges. Not only is he starting a new school, doesn’t have a lot of his old friends in his classes, everything’s just different. So to say the anxiety is running high over here is an understatement. Only does he not want to go to school, getting home from school is very stressful. At the end of the day, everyone is exhausted. He has had long meltdowns. Rest of the family is trying to be very understanding because this is a big change. Kindergarten is hard no matter what, but it’s even harder when you have a kid who has anxiety and also a healthy dose of ADHD. So we are working really hard to manage all of this, that he can adjust as best as possible to the new school year. All of this to say, I am tired, I am beat, I am over it, and it just started. But we will get there, and we will all adjust. Just in time for my daughter to start school, too, and then we get to start this whole rigamarole all over again.