Goodbye, winter break. That’s a wrap. Once again I’m ready to go back. I wish I could look back at the two weeks with nothing but smiles but the struggles of the two weeks stand out too much. I want to recall all the fun things we did but all I can remember is with each fun thing, we had to fight through a lot of fears. I want to say it was a great break , but anxiety took over and anxiety won.

Watching my little 6 year old struggle with panic attacks that would leave her body shaking uncontrollably was beyond heartbreaking. Watching her struggle to overcome a sudden fear that was so strong she didn’t want to do some of her favorite things had me in tears over and over again. The panic attacks became so frequent that instead of celebrating her overcoming one, I anticipated the next one. Watching her hurt sucked. Anxiety won.

Anxiety may have outshone Winter break but we will not let anxiety continue to paralyze Alyssa. first goal of 2022 is helping Alyssa through this. But until then, good bye winter break!