How to keep stress away
Being a parent or carer is the most important role for most people.
However, bringing up children is not always easy and can be very stressful for parents.
We’ve put together some advice for managing stress so that you can stay calm when managing children’s behaviour.
Why it’s important to recognise stress
There may be times you may feel your patience has run out, particularly when trying to deal with misbehaviour.
When you feel your patience has gone and you are exhausted or stressed you can sometimes make decisions that you later regret, such as taking your frustration out on children.
You may accidentally snap and shout or have lower tolerance for behaviours you would normally accept.
Recognising when you are becoming stressed allows you to seek help to tackle issues that are worrying you, and enables you to take back some control.
It is useful to recognise the signs that you are close to your limit and to have some ideas about what to do to prevent yourself losing control.
Sometimes your children may appear to be the trigger of a crisis but more often than not they are just the last straw.
The effect of stress on children
You may not realise just how much children pick up on tension.
They become worried and anxious and sometimes may choose to trigger a situation which relieves the tension rather than live with the uncertainty.
Children may also find how you deal with stress frightening.
Sometimes people relieve stress by hitting out, shouting, or tensing muscles, however for some children if they witness this it can be very scary.
It can also be emotionally upsetting to a child to witness a parent becoming angry or losing emotional control.
Children often think they are to blame for the outburst and this can damage their own emotional and mental development.
How to manage stress
Identify the signs that you are becoming stressed and try using some techniques to help to calm you before it escalates.
However, bringing up children is not always easy and can be very stressful for parents.
We’ve put together some advice for managing stress so that you can stay calm when managing children’s behaviour.
Why it’s important to recognise stress
There may be times you may feel your patience has run out, particularly when trying to deal with misbehaviour.
When you feel your patience has gone and you are exhausted or stressed you can sometimes make decisions that you later regret, such as taking your frustration out on children.
You may accidentally snap and shout or have lower tolerance for behaviours you would normally accept.
Recognising when you are becoming stressed allows you to seek help to tackle issues that are worrying you, and enables you to take back some control.
It is useful to recognise the signs that you are close to your limit and to have some ideas about what to do to prevent yourself losing control.
Sometimes your children may appear to be the trigger of a crisis but more often than not they are just the last straw.
The effect of stress on children
You may not realise just how much children pick up on tension.
They become worried and anxious and sometimes may choose to trigger a situation which relieves the tension rather than live with the uncertainty.
Children may also find how you deal with stress frightening.
Sometimes people relieve stress by hitting out, shouting, or tensing muscles, however for some children if they witness this it can be very scary.
It can also be emotionally upsetting to a child to witness a parent becoming angry or losing emotional control.
Children often think they are to blame for the outburst and this can damage their own emotional and mental development.
How to manage stress
Identify the signs that you are becoming stressed and try using some techniques to help to calm you before it escalates.
- Count to 10 and take deep breaths (an old one but a good one).
- Take time out. Walk away and take a few minutes to calm yourself. This could be another room or outside if you need air. Are you really angry at your child or has something else happened?
- Visualise somewhere calming. This could be a tropical island or beach, whatever works for you.
- Remind yourself you are the adult and you are setting an example to your child on how to behave – would you like to be shouted at or spoken to in that manner?
- Phone a friend. Sometimes talking things through helps you to see matters in a new light.
- Factor ‘me time’ in to your day. This could be two minutes to have a cup of tea in peace or to read a magazine.
- Scream into a pillow – away from the children. You can let rip in the pillow, and this is better than yelling at the children.
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