Floor Time

Floor Time

A recent Nielsen Company survey reports that the average American is spending an average of 4 hours 49 minutes watching TV a day — and that is those ages 2 years on up. Yikes. But then again, your TV time is probably after the children are in bed, unless your anxious child just won’t bite the pillow. TV is a problem inasmuch as it is a regular source of scary images for children that will keep them up at night and you from your late-night show. It is a lean, efficient anxiety-producing electronic machine. But also there is the issue of whether it is being used too much as a substitute babysitter and keeping you and your child from more productive activities.

It sometimes can take some time to figure out why your child is anxious or having a hard time in school. Does your child have a short attention span because he/she is anxious or because of attention deficit disorder or both? Or, does your child have some learning disabilities that need to be clearly identified? Whatever the reason, you know that you have a stressed-out child on your hands and the answers to these questions may take some time. When all else fails, consider going back to the basics. A lot of undesirable behavior in children is inappropriate attention-seeking. Children crave attention. The most basic mental health intervention you can give your child is 20 minutes of undivided attention everyday. In a way, it may not sound like much, but actually it can really do a lot to take the edge off things. The activity can take many forms, but please try something more interactive than video games. Sometimes you have to try out a few ideas to find ones that are a good match between you and your child. It will probably be more fun if you engage your child in an activity that you find interesting than one for which you have no aptitude. But then again, being a parent is a way to expand your horizons and develop some new interests.

Time spent with your child is important because children often do not respond promptly and efficiently to such well-meaning inquiries as, “How was your day at school?” The response often suggests that you don’t have security clearance to have access to such information. However, given some time, often children will spontaneously blurt out a concern or share an experience. The time you spend with your child also communicates to her that you consider her important and worthy of your time and that of, course, will help her feel that she is worthwhile. It is one instance where quantity of time is as important as the quality of time.