This is a collaborative post: Parental stress is something that is just all too real. If you feel that even going on holiday can feel like one task too many because of the sheer volume of things to do to get to that point, you are not alone. There’s a lot of things that we should be doing to cope, especially in the face of constant financial worries and that feeling that we need to get it all done. Here are some approaches to try:
Prioritise Yourself
One of the biggest problems we can all feel is when we are prioritising everybody else and come to the conclusion that we haven’t been looking after ourselves as we should. It’s not uncommon for some parents to lose hair as a result of ongoing stress, not just go grey! While lots of parents can feel really self-conscious because of these issues, there are methods to deal with it. For example, a hair transplant could reinvigorate you and give you a greater sense of self. You may very well be looking at what a hair transplant cost amounts to and not think it is worth your while, but it’s important to not put a price tag on your happiness. Prioritising yourself can also be as simple as carving out some time for yourself. No matter how little that time is, it can make a big difference in how you feel towards yourself and reinvigorate your abilities to be a great parent.
Tackle Your Responses to Stress
If you feel like you’re not getting on top of everything, you can either look at reducing your parental duties (which might be impossible) or you can look at how you react to stress. It doesn’t happen overnight, but if you can incorporate certain practices that work for you, whether it is MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction), meditation, five minutes of quiet time, or positive self-talk and visualisation, all of these things can work together to tackle your responses to stress. Stress is a physiological response, and we have to remember that it’s our body’s way of telling us to get out of something. Instead of feeling like you need to run away, get the right coping tools and use the ones that work for you. There are some great resources out there, including the videos on the Therapy in a Nutshell YouTube channel.
Share the Pain
You are not alone. Sometimes we can feel like our children are a bit more challenging than others or we’ve got a little bit more to do than other parents, but it’s not productive comparing ourselves to others. However, there are other parents out there who have it a lot worse! A bit of perspective sometimes grounds us, and if we can share the pain with another parent and get it all out, this is a wonderful cathartic feeling. It also makes us feel like we’re rejuvenated and ready to go back and tackle those pressing tasks.
Parental stress is commonplace. Some people can handle it, while other people can’t. But it doesn’t mean that you should let it impact your life.