Is a Worry Worrying You?

Worrying... Is there anyone of us that can truly claim not to be plagued by stress? Both my parents are the definition of calmness and tranquility. Me,on the other hand? If nervousness and anxiety needed a picture, mine would be brilliant. I remember being like this from an early age, worrying over everything. Not just school or friends, but literally everything. Growing up didn't do much to improve it.

Now, I wish I had this lovely book while I was growing up. I'm not a mother myself, but as a teacher I interact with children of all ages for many hours and the worst thing is seeing them loaded with stress. Worrying over tests, grades,homework, what their parents would say if an essay went bad, etc. I feel awful knowing that I have contributed in all the enormous load they daily carry on their shoulders, so I thought ‘'well, I will take the book with me today.'' They really loved it.The younger children were absorbed by the pictures and with the older ones I had the opportunity to start a very interesting and liberating discussion about worrying over school, relationships, and family issues.

The headings and snippets were very well-written and simple enough for all children to understand and to me, they provided some real food for thought, beautiful and whimsical sentences of wisdom that I wish I had read when I was their age. The pictures are really striking and unique, almost Gothic in style, echoing Tim Burton and Lisa Falzon.

So, my opinion is of secondary importance with this book. The young ones loved it and so did I. Will it help me lower the levels of worrying just for the sake of it? Probably not, but it certainly motivates me to try.