A new school year can bring anxiety for kids

As a new school year begins, the anxiety for kids sometimes can be overwhelming. As a parent of two young girls 11 and 12 years old, I know this all too well.

This year, my youngest daughter will start middle school. It's a big change for an 11-year-old who has been at the same school for the past six years since kindergarten. Last year she had only one class and this year she will have seven classes and seven different teachers.

She will change classes on a bell schedule and have only four minutes in between each class. She also has a locker this year. She's tell you she's excited and nervous at the same time. She got her lock a few weeks ago, memorized the combination and has been practicing opening it.

Besides all the new classes and teachers, there's a new school and a lot more students. It's understandable to have some anxiety.  Doctors say parents can expect to see anxiety in kids when they first start school in preschool or kindergarten. The second peak of anxiety is when children are aged 10-12.

If your child is having anxiety it's important for you to talk to your child and help them understand a lot of kids have anxiety at the beginning of school. A little anxiety is good, but if your child continues to have anxiety and it becomes excessive you may need to seek help from a counselor or doctor.

I have a friend who does counseling and gave me some great tips a few years ago, when my older daughter had anxiety about school. It's an exercise anyone can do who has anxiety or fear about something.

One of the exercises we did was to name the anxiety she was having the “Fear Monster.” We had her draw this “Fear Monster” on a piece of paper really big and on the bottom of the paper draw a picture of herself small. We had her write all the things the “Fear Monster” would say to her. After she did that picture, we had her draw on another piece of paper herself big and the fear monster small.

We looked at those fears and my daughter realized that they were just that lies.

The things she was worried about like failing a test was a lie because she never failed a test. She was worried about people saying mean things to her, but no one ever said mean things to her. She was worried about her teacher not being there and having a mean substitute, but she had never had a mean substitute. She figured out that she was worrying about things that she didn’t need to worry about.

We did other techniques that included visualizing what she was afraid of and overcoming it by being brave and conquering her fear.

I heard a statistic that 90 percent of the things we worry about don’t ever end up happening anyway, so why worry. Most of the time worrying about something can’t change the outcome.

I know we all go through this at some point in our life. Anxiety usually happens when we begin something new. Hopefully once the newness wears off so will the anxiety. Here's to a great new school year, stress and anxiety free!

Back to school on a budget

Graci and Randi getting back to school supplies.

I can’t believe it’s almost time for the kids to go back to school. As you get your kids ready, you need to make sure your kids have their current physicals, school supplies, and clothes for school. I found a few places that you can go to help you out, so you don’t spend a fortune.

And, don’t forget the tax-free weekend in Florida this year is August 4-6. This is a perfect time for parents to save money on school supplies, clothing, shoes, and other back to school shopping items. You can find all the items tax free at www.floridarevenue.com/backtoschool

Mother and couponer Barbi Pierson, likes to look at the ads before going to the store to get the most for her money when shopping for back-to-school supplies. “Couponers get excited for back to school deals," she said. "You want to make sure to get your Sunday newspaper to see the ads and get coupons. If you miss getting the Sunday paper on Sunday, most Dollar Tree stores sell the Sunday paper all week. The best deals are combining and stacking store coupons with manufacturers and topping it with a competitor total off purchase.” 

Pierson added, “Remember to shop the BOGO (buy one get one) free items at Publix. You can even use coupons from competitors at some stores.”

Several stores like Target, that have their own apps for coupons. Target has the app called “Cartwheel” and you can use the coupons they give you and other coupons from the newspaper and printable coupons together for more savings.

Another way to save money is by shopping on the internet. Sites like Ebates give you money back when you shop. All you do is log into their site www.ebates.com and shop at your favorite store. They have more than 2,000 stores you can shop at. Right now they are offering a $10 bonus gift card to Walmart or Ebates just for signing up. It will send you a check in the mail every quarter as part of the commission they receive for having you shop on their site. You can comparison shop with newspaper ads and online. 

A great place to go to find the best deals at hundreds of stores online according to Pierson is the site Slickdeals at www.slickdeals.net, where you can find coupons for stores.   

Back to school items at Walmart.

You can also price match at some stores like Walmart, Staples, Target, Office Depot/Office Max. If you find a lower price you can get that price and at Staples if you find a lower price they will match it and lower the price by 10 percent.

Hopefully some of these tips will help you get your child ready for school. Finding deals and saving money doesn’t have to be hard, it can be easy if you know what to look for and how to shop. 

Here’s to starting off the school year right!

TAX FREE DAY this weekend in Florida!

The tax free weekend is August 2-4, 2013. This year personal computers and certain related accessories for personal use are tax free.

Here is what is on the list for tax free.
• Clothing
• Footwear
• Certain clothing accessories
• Certain school supplies
• Personal computers and certain related accessories for personal use
Florida law directs that no sales tax or local option tax (also known as discretionary sales surtax)
will be collected on sales of clothing, footwear, and certain accessories selling for $75 or less per
item, on certain school supplies selling for $15 or less per item, and on personal computers and
certain related accessories selling for $750 or less per item, when purchased for noncommercial
home or personal use. This three-day tax holiday is in effect from 12:01 a.m. on Friday, August
2, 2013, through 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, August 4, 2013. The exemption will apply no matter how
many items are sold on the same invoice to a customer.
The exemption does not apply to any item of clothing selling for more than $75, to any school
supply item selling for more than $15, or to any personal computer or related accessory selling
for more than $750.
Books are NOT exempt from tax during the 2013 Sales Tax Holiday.

2012 Sales Tax Holiday for Back to School Supplies

As kids get ready to go back to school, don't forget about the Sales Tax Holiday.  It is three days starting on August 3-5th. With all the sales going on during the sales tax holiday, you can save some money!

Below is what the 2012 Florida Legislature passed and the Governor approved:

No sales tax shall be collected on the sale of clothing, wallets, or bags, including handbags, backpacks, fanny packs, and diaper bags, but excluding
briefcases, suitcases, and other garment bags, having a sales price of $75 or less per item, or on sales of certain school supplies having a sales price of $15 or less per item.

“Clothing” means any article of wearing apparel, including all footwear (except skis, swim fins, roller blades, and skates), intended to be worn on or about the human body. However, “clothing” does not include watches, watchbands, jewelry, umbrellas, handkerchiefs, or sporting equipment.
“School supplies” means pens, pencils, erasers, crayons, notebooks, notebook filler paper, legal pads, binders, lunch boxes, construction paper, markers, folders, poster board, composition books, poster paper, scissors, cellophane tape, glue, paste, rulers, computer disks, protractors, compasses,
and calculators.