Stress Tips

Thursday, March 9, 2006 @ 4:23 pm
Filed under stuff n nonsense, those crazy kids

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Happy Day After International Women’s Day!

I have been having Procrastination Issues for the last week or so. It is very frustrating! I wonder if I ought to up my anti-depressant dose? I am hoping to get my shit together soon. This information is rather timely for the way I am feeling - I think I need to follow some of these tips myself!

Stress Tips for At Home Parents

To the working world, stay-at-home parents often seem to have a life of leisure, but anyone who’s been there knows that this is far from the truth. If you’re temporarily or full-time at home with your kids, these tips can help you control the very real stresses involved in at-home parenting.

Recognise that you have a full-time job and be dressed and ready for your day early in the morning. Getting yourself put together and organised first thing set a positive, organised tone for the whole day.
Become an expert in multi-tasking. Integrate the kids wherever possible in your chores and errands. Things may take a bit longer this way, but kids can find the tasks on your to-do list fascinating.
Practice good time management. Structure your day and plan for active times, regular meals, down times, and work times. Many parents find it helps to devote one portion of the day (for example mornings or late afternoons) exclusively to the kids’ needs and entertainment. That way, you won’t feel guilty when you have to do your thing while they play on their own.
Don’t allow people to pressure you into unwanted activities or time commitments because you’re “only” at home with the kids. It’s okay to say that you have a full schedule. Those with children of their own will understand.
Organisation is key to stress control. Keep a calendar for your daily schedule, plans, outings and errands. You can use this to jot down notes and ideas and to keep yourself organised. If it helps, try keeping a special notebook just for lists.
Allow yourself some adult company every day. This need not be formal socialising - a conversation with another parent at library story time can be a refreshing break.
Save time later in the day by preparing a snack tray in the mornings - filled with healthy snacks like dried fruit, cut up veggies and whole grain bread. Fill up juice and water bottles for the fridge. You’ll thank yourself later when chaos sets in. Also, you are less likely to give in to the kids’ (or your own!) junk food cravings.
Be sure to work some physical activity into every day, preferably outdoors. You and your kids will benefit from the elevated mood and fitness levels.
If you allow TV or DVDs make these special events for those times when you desperately need time to yourself, to unwind or to concentrate on an important task.
Co-operate with other stay at home parents for babysitting duties, shopping trips or cooking meals.
For housework, set up a cleaning schedule and stick to it. Breaking down the tasks into more manageable chunks makes essential chores more palatable and less likely to be postponed. For example, tackle one room each day.
Finally, recognise that at-home parenting is a very real, demanding and rewarding job, complete with stresses like any other job. Like all jobs, this one has good and bad days, things you love and things you’d rather not deal with. As with any job, you need time off so plan ways to meet your own needs for privacy and personal time. Know you’re in good company and be proud of your career as a parent.

This list was in a handout given to the Brindabella Women’s Group on Tuesday. We had a guest speaker from Beyond Blue come to talk to us about how we can protect ourselves from the stresses of at home parenting and look after our mental health.

I hope you find it helpful too.