Studies have shown that your relationship with your children is largely dependent on your ability to manage your own stress. So it's in your best interest to take care of yourself by effectively managing your stress levels on a daily basis. Easier said than done given that many of us are working parents, extremely busy, and have countless external pressures to face each day.
However, learning to manage your stress levels will make you feel better and when you feel better you're better able to cope with the demands of parenting.
🤯 Identify your stress trigger: Think about activities that you do during the day that have the potential to trigger you or cause you stress. It could be your baby crying, school drop off, bedtime, a midwife appointment or a particular activity.
🙂 Make a commitment to yourself: When you begin that activity, make a commitment to notice any trigger or stress response that you might be experiencing and try to stop and breathe
😮💨Decompress: Sometimes we need this, and that's okay! Don't feel like a bad parent if you need to go somewhere by yourself for 5 minutes. Make sure your child is safe, walk away and just decompress and do something for yourself. Giving yourself permission to take a brief “stress break” is often enough to decompress or just give a new perspective.
🥳 Be you again: The truth is we devote so much of our time to our families, we often forget to take time for our own social needs, whether it's with our significant other or our friends. Relationships can help to reduce our stress and restore balance. So be 'you' again and try to catch up with someone special every now and then and forget about being a parent for a while.
🧘 Practice some mindful meditation: Learning to slow down and practicing some mindful meditation each day will help you to calm a busy mind and find some peace amongst the chaos of parenting . Don't worry, you don't have to spend hours doing it, just a simple one minute breathing meditation where you focus on each inhale and exhale will help you to calm down in a stressful situation.