Talking to kids about 2020

Help children process this exhausting year to prepare for whatever comes next.

Let’s be honest. The year 2020 has been … special.

“This whole year from start to finish has been a zoo,” says Ashok Shimoji-Krishnan, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente in Factoria, Washington. From the pandemic to social upheaval to an election like none other, we’ve all been feeling it. “Kids specifically have had to adapt to a lot of changes,” he says.

Whether your kid melted down a little or a lot, you're not alone.

“We’ve seen impacts on kids in a large array of ways, from crying and outbursts to anxiety to things like school refusal or being afraid to go outside and get others sick,” Shimoji-Krishnan says. Looking toward 2021, he says, most kids just want

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