Chapter 2

Excellent discussion, everyone!  Parents asked to combine the chapter elements with the "action" piece at the end of each chapter to keep it simple. Please comment on whatever speaks to you and reply to others' posts - great work!  I love hearing the "practice" piece, so I hope some will reflect on how they plant seeds and model with their kids.  If you haven't commented on chapter 1 elements or homework, you can do it at any time. Everyone please continue to take a peek at previous posts in case new comments crop up.  Again in each post if possible, we would like participants to try to share one response and one reply to another person's response. Thank you!

Themes:

• Tendency, not destiny
• Anxious parents role in perpetuating an anxious response to life
• Why parents help kids avoid

Common parenting patterns that makes sense and don’t work:

• Rescuing, reassuring, and overprotecting
• Providing certainty
• Identifying a child as a worrier because “it runs in the family”
• Requiring family members, friends and schools to accommodate the anxiety
• Allowing “bad” behavior (yelling, swearing, tantrums, hitting, etc.) because it’s a part of the anxiety
• Modeling with your own anxious behavior
• Pushing too hard or becoming angry or explosive

Practice (if you are able to practice in the "homework" section, please share your story!):

• Plant seeds of change on the horizon
• Model the process of positive actions