Dd9 feeling down

[Serena1977]

Dd9 is feeling down. Missing school terribly. Missing grandparents. All the usual. She is missing routine and her sleeping has gone haywire, cant get to sleep then is tired in a morning. Shes been weepy and says she doesn't know what's wrong and today she got upset because teacher didnt pick her to answer a question on teams. This would never normally be a problem.

In situations like this I would take her swimming, have a wander round the shops, have a sleepover at dgm, go to cinema etc but none of these are possible obviously.

Any ideas welcome please

No ideas I'm afraid.
Last week 6 year old ds told us he doesn't want to be alive anymore 😭

Go for a walk, do a jigsaw together? Video call a friend?

Last week 6 year old ds told us he doesn't want to be alive anymore
It makes me so angry that it has come to this -utterly ridiculous overkill ‘to save the NHS’

@Pinkflipflop85

I'm sorry, it is an awful time for kids.

Can they go for a walk with grandparents ? Can you take them for a walk ? There has to be a balance

I think you have to find other ways to try to make them inspired and happy, for example, change her room around (free!), add some new accessories and get her involved in choosing them, redecorate it maybe if you feel inspired to do so, or buy new bedding, make it lovely to be in, there are ways of doing this free of charge. Let her do something fun like start a free online blog (supervised of course!!), let her choose something to bake! Change it up a bit. Have a party night...even get her a new computer game if you're so inclined. I know none of these things are a replacement but they keep kids spirits up a bit :) I found DS responds when I do this kind of thing. Little changes and fun stuff when they seem down can really help. :)

Also my DS is having the same re. sleep issues. I'm still trying to work it out but I've found that getting a weighted blanket (a cheaper version) has helped. Also magnesium tablets (make sure right dose for kids). Getting them outside early in the morning is a help with this too. They need the exercise and light exposure to reset their circadian rhythms.

My DD10 is exactly the same, OP. She's very weepy, very down on herself lately. As you say you'd normally cheer them up with a visit to something they enjoy but that's off the cards. I've exhausted all options and at a loss. It's hard to cheer them up with walks and video calls when that's really all we've done for nearly 12 months now.

That's so hard and this whole situation is awful- could you order something for a pamper/movie night maybe? My 4yo has started to lead with 'when the virus has gone can we....' and most of things he wants to do would be nothing in normal times which upsets me and DH. Fingers crossed vaccines are the way out....

Mine are quite similar and they have been refusing to go out lately (too cold) which is making it worse. I think a nice walk and take away hot chocolate/cake is definitely the simplest thing to do. Fresh air might also help her sleep better. It's quite silly but we have also been buying a couple of small toys, books and magazines online and they get excited when that comes. Getting lost in a good book could help her "escape" a little bit :-(. And more creative activities, our school is not great with this at the moment so the children just seem to do really academic stuff. I assume it's an issue for most schools. We found loads of nice tutorials online and you could also get a few craft kits.