A New Day by Emmaline Carroll Southwell
Being a parent to three children is frequently filled with highs, but sadly there’s also some occasional lows too. During those challenging years of living in Melbourne during the global pandemic of 2020, the ripple effect of being mostly in lockdown for two years with young children, revealed itself in unusual ways after we finally got back into regular life.
Due to the pandemic my second child Levi missed out on the majority of his kindergarten year and his foundation year at school (prep). Thankfully by the time he started year 1 school was pretty much back in full swing, but although Levi was academically gifted, socially he was really quite challenged.
Levi really craved friendships but wasn’t sure how to go about that effectively. Up until that point he had not been in a situation where he had been on his own trying to build friendships, and unfortunately it just didn’t come naturally to him at that time. Feeling nervous and awkward Levi found himself not always making the best choices, but also being incredibly empathetic he hated getting into trouble, and disappointing people. It became a horrible cycle for Levi, leaving him incredibly disheartened by the end of the year, and not wanting to return to school.
We spent the last term of that year discussing other potential schooling options, but together we ultimately decided to give it another year, after all he had technically only completed his first full year of proper education.
Over the summer break Levi and I constantly talked about a new year being a fresh start, and a new beginning, with a new classroom of kids, and a new teacher.
We discussed how we could achieve Levi’s main goal of trying to make friends (because at that point he really didn’t have many). We discussed how certain choices and behaviours he had made in the past probably weren’t bringing friendships to him, and together we learned that within the classroom setting he felt quite comfortable and safe, but at lunchtime, when he was alone, he felt unsettled and awkward.
We talked through some strategies to help him during those times; strategies such as breathing, because when we breathe effectively we feel calmer and safer. We discussed trying to have a positive mindset and looking for the good, because when we focus on something good it makes us feel good, and then more often than not we’ll find another thing that makes us feel good, and so on and so forth. We frequently talk about intuition in our home, and so I reminded him to continue to listen to his gut, as that voice in his belly will always help guide him and protect him, and hopefully prevent him from making silly choices too. We discussed showing others kindness and respect as that would make his peers feel good in his company, and hopefully that could also build more friendships too. Finally, I reminded him that he’s never alone and I am never far away. We are always intrinsically linked, and so he can always feel safe.
After having many discussions such as these I decided to write it into a little simple poem, and to make it into a little fold up book that he could keep in his pocket of his shorts at school, so as he could refer to it if he ever needed. I sprayed the last page with my perfume, so that he always felt that invisible connection between he and I, and to reassure him that he’s not alone.
Thankfully Levi went on to have the best year at school, which was a relief and comfort for all. He made many new friends, and even some best friends.
I shared a generalised version of this story to my followers on TikTok (as well as the poem), and the response was incredibly encouraging, with many requesting copies. I forwarded the videos to my publisher at Affirm and she and her team also agreed, that this too should become a children’s picture book.
A New Day is an incredibly personal story, that is both simple and complex. Levi and I are honoured to share this book with other children and their families.
Emmaline Carroll Southwell is a television personality, viral TikTok star and author of Our Family Pledge. Emmaline’s love of the arts began the moment she was born. As a baby, she slept backstage whilst her mother taught ballroom dancing, at age two, she saw her first musical (Cats), and at five, she went to her first live concert (Tina Turner). Years of dance, drama and singing lessons followed suit, and five years of formal training as an actor at USQ and VCA.