About Neige Var
Once upon a time, Neige Var was an operating room nurse and downtown dweller who leisurely spent her time dining out or entertaining friends. The birth of her son changed all that. Now she's a snap-happy suburban mom on unpaid leave with a knack for organizing play dates. Check in with Neige as she continues to adjust to her new role, her new location and her new life.
The heat wave left me feeling lethargic and slow. I could barely muster the strength to eat or move. So that left me with very little choice but to slather up with sunscreen and park myself in the pool. I used this time to catch up on some reading that I’ve been meaning to do since the end of winter!
I started with The no-cry separation anxiety solution by Elizabeth Pantley. I’ve read one of her other books, The no-cry sleep solution, and I really like her style.
Neelan is overall very good with people and even tries to illicit smiles from strangers when we are waiting in line at the grocery store, so one would think that he doesn’t experience separation anxiety. He does and he doesn’t, and this book wonderfully explains that it’s normal for a child to display symptoms of separation anxiety and sometimes be 100 percent fine in a similar situation. It’s all part of growing up.
The author takes a straight-forward approach. The opening chapters discuss what separation anxiety is, the symptoms, and often gives the reader a unique point of view from a child’s perspective. I enjoyed the myriad of tips and suggestions the book has for parents to ease their child’s separation anxiety, and have even started to use some of them with Neelan.
A great deal of the book addresses separation anxiety that an older child would experience and introduces the concept of a “magic” bracelet that a child can wear and have as a reminder that their parent cares for them, is thinking of them and is “with” them. Neelan isn’t at that age where he would understand the concept of a magic bracelet (which by the way comes free with the book), but it certainly is great to have handy and good to know about.
In the meantime the book has addressed my concerns and has provided some really concrete tips and examples. I think it has helped Neelan become more autonomous, definitely less clingy and hopefully ready for when he begins daycare. If that day ever comes….
