Daughter Is Afraid of the "End of the World" Day, December 21 - Lakewood,CA

Ya know what, it's one day - why not let her stay home? That would at least show her that you validate her concern. ie "I am not worried that the 21st is the last day of the world. I don't believe that to be true. It's just the end of the calendar - a new day will start. But I understand that you are worried, so why not we have a fun day and you can stay home from school. What do you want to do? Watch a movie? Bake some cookies? I love you and want you to know that I am here for you."

This is a perfect time to speak with her about facts and information, vs stories and gossip.

Let her know that just because something is published does not always make it true. That when we hear things that sound outrageous, scary, too good to be true, we take time to research for the truth.

Then help her with where to find the truth.

Talk about exaggeration. Play the game telephone with her and her friends.. Sit in a circle, and you whisper. Into someone's ear, they then whisper what they heard the last person then says aloud what has been whispered. Usually, Otis so incorrect.. It shows how things get twisted and miscommunicated very quickly.

Let her know how even in 1999, people thought all of technology would come to stop. Causing alerts of problems.. And yet, here we are...

Remind her to always speak with you or her father when she s worried. And roomies you will always tell her the truth.

Show this to your daughter, especially the ones in the list where mass groups of people believed the world would end but it didn't. Even more especially the ones in recent history, like since 1900.

Just since 1974 I've survived something like 54 World Apocalypses. I'm just that badass.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dates_predicted_for_...

I'm with Jessica-- this is a repeated phenomenon. I have strong feelings about the people who propogate this sort of thinking, and they aren't friendly feelings, mainly because the youngsters need the adults to have it together.

So, yeah, I have a huge problem with it. It's epidemic stupidity at its worst. I'm not too young to remember the stupidity around Y2K and how that was supposed to be the end of the civilized world.

I think this is one time you will need to give her the information and then let her experience the crappy anticipation and then relief (and then, anger) that comes with believing a popular myth like this. I agree with FreckleMama-- let her stay home. That will be one way to take the edge off of her anxiety; however, I'd also have her go and collect up her homework in advance so it's not a 'just hang out' day. I will say this though-- it's better to learn at ten that what some decree to be the end of the world is just that, a guess. I've known a couple people who thought the end was nigh and sold their cars, houses, quit their jobs, etc. because of a word of prophecy-- and then did literally find themselves homeless, jobless, carless. Sometimes, too, with kids ..... such an awful mistake. It's not a pretty lesson to learn as an adult, so better for her to have her eyes opened now.

had this problem but not with a child.. my cousin whos a few months younger than me is terrified.. im guessing its the pregnancy hormones (shes due in january) because its like all of a sudden shes worried about everything... she was telling me the other day "o my god the worlds going to end before i have my daughter"... i was like seriously?? you know if the mayan calendar were really true that the world wouldve ended like a year ago..they didnt account for leap years so it wouldve happened already..

Oh dear.
Some kids are taking this so seriously and it's just stressing them.
My son said one kid at school (this is middle school teens) overheard a teacher joking about it (with another teacher) and the poor kid burst into tears.
He had to visit with his guidance counselor and the principal for over an hour to calm him down.
Thinking about Christmas and New Year's should help - they are special events that will happen after the due date.
If you have plans for spring break travels, clue them in on it and let them help you plan it.
Explain sometimes people (even news agencies) don't get a good handle on reality versus make believe and while most people enjoy a good scare once in awhile (vampires, werewolves, zombies) it's all make believe, they don't exist and are nothing to worry about.
In our school system the first day of winter break starts on Dec 21st and we just can't wait for it to start (mostly so we can turn off our alarm clocks and sleep in).
You might just have to wait it out.

We've had this discussion at our house, though my kids are older. We've talked about how every generation has its "thing" to fear.

For me (and my parents' generation) it was dying in a nuclear holocaust. I grew up watching Red Dawn and TV movies about nuclear winter. It literally terrified me.

For my sons it was 9/11.

Y2K was a big deal for a while too.

I would just try to reassure her that NOBODY knows when the end of the world will be (the Bible says that if you're Christian), and the more people declare it's going to be on a certain day the less likely they are to be right. JMO.

I'm into "prepping" within reason but I'm not into scaring the daylights out of kids.

Good luck.

Poor dear. The best advice I heard on this was on a talkshow where parents were talking of the same concern with their children. The professional panel advised making plans for that date and beyond to show they had no fear, the best thing to do is "model no fear" they said.

Make plans for Christmas dinner and goodies you can make together, schedule time to wrap gifts, visit family and/or friends, go to a play, concert, church service, caroling, etc. And when the day is done ask her how she feels, not to put her down but to help her reason. Use this as a stepping stone in teaching her not to allow fear to run her life as opposed to listening to reason was the final recommendation.

Well, Dec 21st is the last day of school before break, right? (It is for our district.) So what would she be doing that day? I'm kind of new to grade school, as my oldest is in Kindergarten. Not sure what they are doing in the morning, other than driving their teacher crazy, but the party is after lunch and they get out early.

I think at that age we had classes in the morning and a movie in the gym after lunch. I remember watching "Where the Red Fern Grows" on year and "Cheaper By the Dozen" another year.

My point is, I think if she missed school she'd probably miss something fun. Then again, I doubt she'd be missing anything crucial to her educational future.

Are you Christian? If so, you could remind her that even if it is the end of the world, she's led a good life and she's a shoe in for Heaven. That might cheer her up!

I had completely forgotten about all of this. lol Just tell her it's like vampires, werewolves, zombies, and such. It's fun to talk about but not true.

I think it may just have to play itself out, unfortunately.

You can try to tell her that every generation has been through something that terrified some people. Maybe tell her about the War of the Worlds broadcast, the Y2K thing (which at least had some semblance of logic in the sense that computers had not been programmed to go past 1999), the threat of nuclear war in the post-Sputnik years, the many conspiracy theories, etc. People used to think that the constellations were gods, that the sun orbited the earth, and the moon was made of green cheese. But we've grown beyond that.

Remind her also that she was afraid of X (monsters? night-time?) when she was little, but she outgrew it.

You're right, it doesn't help that adults are into this. It happened last year on Mamapedia too!

You might show her that she has a school calendar, everyone has a 2013 calendar, everyone's buying Christmas gifts, people are planning vacations and signing up for gymnastics and what not, the TV ads are promoting 12/25 and soon the 12/26 sales, New Year's Eve parties, and much much more.

It's a good time to talk about mob psychology (in her own terms) and not believing everything you hear. Also a good time to talk about those dumb tabloids at the check-out line that are full of nonsense ("baby born pregnant" or "Angelina Jolie is an alien" or whatever. Just because it's in print, doesn't mean it's true.

And let her know that others may be getting pleasure out of her panic, and it may be a form of bullying to prey on someone's fears like that.

And if the Mayans were so smart, how come they aren't around as a civilization anymore? They got a TON of things right, but not this one.

If she continues to get more and more agitated, get some short-term counseling just to help her anxiety.

Good luck. Let us know on 12/22 how she's doing.

First of all, what kind of parent would let their child have an end of the world party?

Let her stay home that day. She is a very sensitive child...and that is okay ! Thank goodness all kids are not rough around the edges.

Support her and let her talk about it if she wants to. I wouldn't bring it up unless she does. Stay low key for the next week. Don't go near people who are getting her nervous by bringing it up.

Tell her the Mayan Calendar did not take into account Leap years therefore based on their calculations, it would have already happened.

Matthew in the Bible has a much more accurate time for the events in the world and ending, etc. I will add it here for you to read and you just need to tell her that nobody knows the date or time and for her to stop worrying.
Here is Matthew 24:
36 “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
As for the end of the world itself it's even after this takes place.

This website seems to explain the Mayan calendar and how it works. It's not a world ending date, it's a Calendar ending date. Like our calendar ends in December, theirs was MUCH bigger and ends at a particular date, for the next one to start. At least that's how I understood the article.

http://jameswatt.me/2012/03/07/mayan-calendar-and-the-gre...

Tell her Christmas would be cancelled if the world was ending on 12/21.... and YOU are planning on Christmas, right?

If you arent planning on Christmas then I guess I would just tell her that people make up crazy stuff now and then, google the hail bop comet fiasco, people weird-ed out for that too. She needs a lesson on what is real and what isn't. If the world was REALLY ending on the 21st wouldnt we all be doing something other than living our regular daily life? We'd all be doing super fun stuff.... Look up the word "rational" in the dictionary and explain to her that some people are irrational at times and that the MEDIA loves to SCARE people so that they will buy stuff and watch MORE TV.

You are planning for the holidays correct or a vacation or birthday. This should prove to her that you are not worried. I say, let her stay home from school that day. What the heck. Plan something special. Call it a mental health day. Enjoy your day out.

Unfortunately I think the media has become a little irresponsible in reporting news versus speculation and kids are so exposed to it now that we have no way of keeping things from them that they really shouldn't know about. Luckily my 10 year old son does not believe the world will end but he never believed in the Tooth Fairy either. That being said, I saw an article on the internet dated May 12, 2012 called "Oldest Known Maya Calendar Found; No Signs of 2012 Doomsday". Look it up and show it to your daughter. The reason the Mayan calendar ends at 12/21 is because that's the last piece they found. They have now found more of the calendar and more info about it. Hope this helps!

I clearly remember being in Primary School on the day ( 10 March 1982) when the world was supposed to end because of "combined gravitational forces of lined up planets"! After all the hype the hour of our doom came and went without incident. My classmates and I were actually disappointed that the world didn't end because we had to write the test we hadn't studied for!!

Then ... Y2K - I actually DID stock up on water, tinned food etc cos (although I didn't think the world would end) I DID think we'd have computer-related problems which might cause disruptions in the supply chains. Again, NOTHING happened .... except that I had to get creative with a few too many tins of baked beans!! :P

To be honest I'd actually forgotten about this latest "Day of Doom" ... hell, I just put in an offer to buy a new house ... and transfer takes place next year!!

The other Mamas have already given brilliant advice on this topic. I just wanted to add my personal experience having also survived my share of "End of the World" events! :) Love & best wishes to all.

This is totally out of control. Like others have said, it is based on what is found. The Aztecs and Mayans all have "predictions" on their calendars and some have matched. kind of like Notredomas. I know I spelled that wrong. But wasn't the world suppsoed to end like a decade ago according to him and also there was Y2k which was totally hyped. The one thing no one really mentions on the calendars is that the prediction is renewal. Maybe Congress will fix their mess that day (a bit much to hope for of course) or maybe something else will change.

My kids are saying they found a link that NASA is saying there will be 3 days with no electricity. I have not found it but one more thing to hype up.

BTW, there is one kid at school that kept telling my daughter that the world is ending for sure and she should stop her horrible artwork that everyone else raves about. She asked him why he bothered writing his Christmas wish list since there would be no Christmas and he won't get presents. he shut up and has not mentioned it this week so far.