Anxiety in children — a parent's field guide
Anxiety in kids often looks like anger, avoidance, or the sudden 'no' that seems to come from nowhere. These articles, stories, and episodes help parents recognize anxious wiring underneath the behavior — and respond with more understanding.
Articles
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Stories to read together
Podcast episodes
- HT the Hot Dog — Deep Dive: Anxiety, What-Ifs & Returning to Now
Worry doesn't respond to logic — it responds to attention. This episode follows HT, a hot dog stuck in spiraling 'what-ifs,' to show why anxious minds (kids' and grown-ups' alike) can't think their way out — and how returning to right-now is the way back.
- The Mouse Who Heard Everything — Deep Dive: Bedtime Fears & the Hyper-Vigilant Child
When your child calls out 'there's a noise,' reassurance rarely lands — their listening is stuck on high. This episode unpacks why little ears stay switched on at night, and how shifting from alarm to curiosity (with a brave companion at their side) helps the body settle into sleep.
- The Tower That Looked Fine — Deep Dive: Reading the Wobble Before the Meltdown
Why meltdowns are nervous-system overload. This episode walks through the small, invisible weights kids carry all day — the wobble before the crash — and how gentle noticing (not stricter rules) helps a child stay standing.
- Little Bird — Deep Dive: Why Logic Fails a Scared Child
When a once-brave child suddenly clings, reassurance and reasoning rarely land — anxiety isn't a thinking problem. This episode bridges Little Bird's story with what we know about secure base behavior, the science of safety, and the small, repeatable practices (predictable goodbyes, hot-chocolate breaths, 5-4-3-2-1 grounding, baby-step bravery) that help a scared child's body believe what their grown-up has been telling them all along.