Stress and parenting tend to go hand in hand during certain times of year. I think of times when we experience changes to the everyday routine, like the start of the school year, the beginning of the summer, and around the holidays. With current events like “shelter at home,” COVID-19, working from home, and distance learning to name a few, feelings of stress and overwhelm have become more of a regular occurrence. As someone familiar with being stressed out, here are a few things that you can do right now to help with managing parenting stress.
Communicate your needs
With all of the change going on right now, communication is more important than ever. It can be helpful to carve out as little as 10 minutes each day to talk with your co-parent, family member, and/or a close friend with how you are feeling. Taking a little time to talk about your feelings and have someone validate your feelings is helpful. When it comes to our parenting practices, it is helpful to incorporate positive discipline into our everyday strategies with our children.
Write about your parenting stress
Sometimes, we have a tendency to dwell or focus on our stressors. By writing down our feelings, it helps us to process these feelings. Sometimes, when we write our thoughts out, we are able to get them out of our mind.
Schedule and practice self-care
When we ignore or don’t address feelings of stress, this can lead to burn out. When this happens, parents typically have less patience and are more reactive to their children. When it comes to practicing self-care, you need to be intentional. During COVID-19, I’ve learned to set aside 30 minutes each day after my children go to bed. Sometimes, I use this time to work on my writing. Other days, I may watch Netflix with my partner or take the dogs for a walk by myself. Taking time for yourself, even a parenting time out can help in a major way.
Analyze your parenting stress
In the heat of the moment, it can be so easy to immediately react to what is bothering us. When you intentionally take a pause, a few deep breaths, and slowly count to 10, it helps you take a second look at what is causing you stress. Here are a few questions that I like to ask myself:
- Am I in real danger right now?
- Will I feel the same way about this stressor tomorrow? Next week?
- Is this situation permanent?
Express Daily Gratitude
Take a few minutes each day to reflect on what you’re grateful for. This goes a long way. This can be helpful to do if you are journaling about your feelings. Need a place to keep track of what you’ve expressed gratitude for? Check out this free 30-day gratitude journal.
Talk to a mental health professional
When it comes to parenting stress and feelings of overwhelm, this is not a time of “business as usual parenting.” As a parent, you are not alone if you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed. There is no doubt that you’re doing the best you can. The tips above can help with managing your feelings of stress. If you find yourself feeling more upset, anxious, angry, or like you may want to hurt yourself, find a mental health professional to talk to about your feelings. Many mental health professionals are offering tele-health services right now.
Some final thoughts on parenting stress
Managing parenting stress during COVID-19 requires taking a step back and looking at what’s going on in your life and the events in your family’s day to day. I have no doubt that you are doing a great job as a parent!
