Few things in life can lead to chronic stress as readily as parenting. But it needn’t be that way. While raising children definitely requires more patience than any other activity, over a wider range of circumstances and for longer periods of time, it need not be a source of chronic stress. Challenges, yes. Stress, no.
What Causes Parenting Stress
Stress happens when a person starts doubting his ability to surpass a seeming irresolvable conflict. It is both mental and physical condition.
When a person is trapped between knowing that he must surpass a situation, and yet he cannot do it, stress happens.
There are situations that one cannot really do anything about, therefore, there is no other way but let it go. There is no point in insisting on resolving a particular concern if it can just solve by itself overtime. It is important to focus on the “must”.
Prioritizing is Essential in Parenting
The problem with most parents is that they tend to focus on the not so important concerns, which only drains them.
As a parent, you have to understand what concerns should be given focus and priority on so that you will not become overwhelmed by too many worries, which only leads to ineffective parenting.
Understand that certain goals are not, in real essence, doable or possible to achieve. Try to stick to realistic goals first.
Parents often desire all the best things for their children to the point that they go beyond reality. Perhaps each goal can be attainable. But, it could take time before each one materializes.
How to Reduce Parenting Stress
Education is important to a child’s mental development and overall well-being. Because of this, parents desire to send their children to good schools. Education is vital, but it need not be expensive.
The belief that good schools make good and successful children gives more pressure to parents.
They work hard to be able to send their children to good schools; not being able to do so makes them feel like failures. This should not be the case. The success of any child is not determined by the school he was enrolled in.
Do not hassle yourself by relocating just to be able to enroll your child to what you think is a good school. No school can teach the discipline a successful person has.
Making decisions such as where to send your children to school should not stress you. You still have other important things to attend to.
You must not let taking choices seriously lead to feelings of guilt, worry, helplessness or irritability, as these are all signs of stress.
It is not wrong to regard any goal as very important, for as long as you do not blame yourself for not having the needed resources to achieve them. If you just pursue and persevere, in time you will find them just within your reach.
Planning for your child’s college education should not worry nor pressure you so much as there are financial aids available. As early as now, when your child is still young, it is advisable if you start looking at college scholarships. Encourage your child to make good in his or her study, so they can get easy scholarship assistance.
Another concern that parents encounter in parenting is when the child becomes impossible to manage. There are children who simply resist rules and instructions. This is one of the many things that have no quick fixes. But it won’t help either if you start becoming stressed.
You just have to keep the right attitude and maintain positive thinking. This way, you won’t have to deal with unnecessary stress.
If after several attempts and you still can’t find an effective way to deal with your disobedient child, there is some help available for you. You can actually seek help from a friend, your parents or professional counselors. Help can also be found in some reliable Internet websites. You will find out that you are not alone.
Stress often happens when you acknowledge your incapacity to solve a problem you must solve. Although tossing away this notion won’t throw your problems away, it would at least keep you away from stress.