How to turn nervous kids into confident adults..

Does your kid ever seem extra nervous, super clingy, or has a straight-up meltdown in new situations or social gatherings? 🫠 It could be going to Grandma’s house, a friend’s birthday party, a neighbour hood barbecue.

Listen, we all want our kids to be outgoing, brave little social butterflies. 🦋 We’ve seen them laugh and play with other kids before, and we KNOW they can do it! They have fun! But not all kids feel comfortable in social situations right away. Hey, neither do all adults! 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️ It can be hard to see our kid feeling nervous/shy/scared. But those feelings are perfectly NORMAL. Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, you’ve probably been there at some point. Sometimes, it takes us a moment to get comfortable or warm up in new social situations—and THAT’S OK .🌈

⁠So, when your kid is in a social situation, and is clinging to you, crying or whining, it can be REALLY tempting to push them into the situation. You know they’re gonna have fun. What’s the big deal, we do this all the time?!?

But when we pressure our kids to get in there and play sooner than they’re ready to, they’ll only end up feeling MORE overwhelmed and MORE nervous. They’ll cling to your leg harder and longer.⁠

Instead, to get your kid over the nervous hump and into confident mode: OK the feelings. Let them feel exactly how they feel—without pushing them—and assure them that they have our support. In doing this, we increase their comfort level. And with that comfort, comes the confidence to get out there and do the new thing.⁠💯 💪

This sounds like:

“You’re feeling nervous. It’s OK to feel nervous.”

“I feel nervous too sometimes.”

“You can stay with me until you’re ready.”

Be their safe person. Be their homebase. Validate those feelings and encourage them to trust themselves. You got this!

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