Care for yourself, and help your children do the same. Adequate sleep, nutrition, and movement are great ways to boost immunity and decrease stress. Outdoor time in particular can help offset the limitations of “shelter in place.” Family meals, especially dinner, can offer both physical and emotional nourishment. Enlisting help with these can help everyone feel like they are contributing. Limiting your media exposure to specific times, ideally well before bedtime, can also be helpful.

Check yourself first. Verbalizing your own fears to yourself or a trusted adult will help prevent you from unintentionally passing along your anxiety to your child. Most children and teens are very resilient and do not have significant anxiety at this time.

Be honest and open with children. Use language and explanations that are appropriate to their age and level of understanding. Being honest may also mean saying “I don’t know.” Honesty helps children feel safe.

Consider your child’s temperament and developmental level. Introverted children may welcome the relative quiet of staying home more, while extroverted children may feel a much stronger urge to socialize. Children who have experienced significant hardship in the past may be more vulnerable to current stress.

Validate feelings. Take time to check-in with children about their feelings, and acknowledge these feelings by reflecting them back to the child in their own words, in a way that shows you have listened to and understood them.

Focus on what you can do. This might include leaving groceries for or sending cards to those who can’t go out. Focusing on what you can control helps decrease stress.

Be gentle with yourself and others. Everyone is under a lot of stress. Young children may have more tantrums, older children may complain more, and teens and adults may be much more irritable. Having empathy for the “why,” rather than reacting to the “what,” is crucial.