Many parents today find themselves raising kids who are over-booked, over-scheduled, and just plain stressed out, and they don’t quite know how it all happened. Most parents don’t begin their journey through parenthood thinking they will get their children involved in several different activities at once, and they certainly don’t account for added pressures like school work, friend issues, and more either. It just seems to happen over time. Kids are invited to participate in activities with their friends, or they ask to try a new after school activity. There are birthday party invites, school projects, the ever-popular standardized tests, and so much more, too.
One day you look at your child and realize that your child is stressed, and as a parent you certainly want to do what you can to ease your child’s load a bit. So what can you do to help out?
Only a Rough Patch? First, before you do anything drastic, pause and consider if this is just an especially period of time that will pass soon? In my own kids’ lives, their big end-of-year projects always are due right around when the standardized tests are held, and so that coupled with all of their “normal” activities really makes them frazzled. This is a period of time that will pass, though, and so drastic alternatives like quitting piano just aren’t the answer.
Over-Booked? If your child is indeed over-booked, with an activity or sports practice schedule almost every night of the week, you may want to talk to your child about dropping one of the activities. It can be difficult to ask a child to quit doing something he or she loves, but as an alternative you can suggest taking a course in school in that subject as an elective or signing up for a Spring Break or summer camp that covers that interest.
Looking Ahead. There are times as a parent when you can look ahead and see that one or two weeks will be pretty busy for your child, and so often a little bit of parental help in planning ahead can help out. Perhaps your child can get a little ahead in homework or working on that big project before the big time and energy crunch takes place. Perhaps you can talk to the piano teacher about skipping a lesson this week and making it up next week when things aren’t quite so busy.
Meals and Rest. Nothing makes you more stressed out during times of high stress than feeling absolutely fatigued and drained of energy. During those times when your child really is busy, you will want to ensure he or she has the best possible nutrition and gets adequate sleep at night, too.
Nobody wants to see their child stressed out, but the fact is that learning to deal with stress now can help your child out later as he or she transitions through the teen years and into adulthood. Many of the strategies listed above can help your child cope with stress later in life, too!
Read more from this contributor:
How Positive is Your Parenting?
Helping Your Kids Through Fights with Friends
Kids and Friend Drama: When to Step In