Stress Causes – Dealing with Parenting Stress
Children are one of the most wonderful blessings of our lives– yet at times, stress causes us to wonder if they may be at the root of our most intense times of stress and anxiety. We most likely wouldn’t react to some of their actions with the same degree of worry or anger if we didn’t love them so much.
The stress of parenting does not have to damage the bond you have with your child. In fact, if you take the necessary steps to reduce stress in your life it can actually strengthen the closeness of your relationship with your child. As a parent, it’s a necessity to take care of yourself so that you have the energy and motivation to be a good parent.
Keep in mind that your kids can experience stress, too – at any age. So when you work on methods to reduce your own stress, try to incorporate stress relieving techniques that both you and your child can use to reduce stress. Of course, the stress relieving activities that you choose for you and your child to share may depend on your child’s age.
If you have toddlers in the house, and the “terrible twos” are getting you down, try spending some extra time with your toddler. Take time to paint, draw, blow bubbles or play outside together and forget worrying about temper-tantrums and potty training for a while. This will strengthen your bond and hopefully eventually help in the temper-tantrum and potty training department in the long run. Sometimes doing “child-ish” activities decreases stress over all—a great side effect!
If your child is a bit older, take a walk together and discuss the things in your neighborhood that you encounter—nature, pets, gardens, etc. Kids love the outdoors and are fascinated by small animals and plants. Start a garden in your backyard with your kids and get them involved in watering and helping you grow flowers, fruits and vegetables.
Teenagers are another story…they can be somewhat difficult to deal with when it comes to alleviating parenting stress. Most all teenagers comes to the place of testing their boundaries with you. Stress causes this process to be even more difficult to deal with. Find things the two of you can enjoy together, like listening to music together (whether you like their music, or not) or going to the mall to do some shopping.
As a parent, it’s also important that you make time for yourself in order to keep yourself healthy and emotionally available to your kids. Spend some “me” time alone to take a breather from daily stressors. This will help you to become more alert and able to monitor your child’s stress levels to ensure they aren’t overly stressed or anxious in a way that may cause harm to themselves or others.
As a family, make a point to participate in activities that are fun and will be stress-relievers for everyone. Take the dog to a dog park, go to an amusement park where there are activities that everyone at any age will enjoy.
Take time to sit down together and eat dinner and talk about your day. Try to avoid scolding your kids at the dinner table–make it a safe place where your kids can open up to you and you help them solve the various problems they face from day to day. This is a great way to allow everyone the opportunity to share their feelings and gain the support they need – including you!
Stress usually causes us to lose focus of what’s really important in our lives. Our children are a most precious gift and should be our highest priority. In putting their well-being first in our lives, we are often able to shift our focus off ourselves and become more emotionally stable in the process.
Recommendation:
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