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Being a parent is perhaps the most challenging yet rewarding job imaginable. Family life can be both physically and mentally exhausting. All the rushing around involved in parenting and the endless things to remember can leave you well and truly stressed out as well as incredibly tired. Amid all this busyness it can feel like the days, weeks and months are simply flying by. The early years can feel like a whirlwind of night feeds and toilet training. As your kids grow up, life revolves around transporting them to soccer practice and playdates. These years seem to pass in a blink of an eye, so it is essential to treasure this time, even if it can be pretty stressful! This is why we created A Busy Parents’ Guide to Beating Stress!
If you feel like you never get a moment to stop as your life revolves around mountains of laundry and constant tidying, you certainly aren’t alone. Nowadays, parents are expected to have it all; a high-powered job, well-behaved beautiful children, a perfect home… the list goes on. However, research suggests that 70% of parents struggle to balance parenthood with having a job. This is despite a quick scroll through your social media showing every parent you know seemingly living the perfect life. Don’t be fooled by social media. It only takes a moment to take a picture, as it is just a snapshot of life at that very second in time, and isn’t an accurate portrayal of everyday life.
If you are looking for ways to banish stress and feel much better, then these tips will help you to do just that:
Get Organized
One of the toughest parts of parenthood is those thoughts and things to do always buzzing around in your head. Trying to remember everything can be a real source of stress in itself. Give your mind a rest and instead of trying to remember absolutely everything, get organized instead.
If you have more than one child, being ultra-organized is especially important. There is no way it is humanly possible to remember absolutely everything from band practice to school trips. Give yourself a break and get it all written down instead.
Keep a calendar or year planner where you can easily see it so that you don’t miss any important appointments. Planners that have a section for each member of the family are especially useful, as a regular calendar can get quickly filled up and hard to read. As soon as you get a party invite or school newsletter, add the information to the schedule; otherwise, you may forget all about it.
Plan Ahead
Following on from being organized, planning ahead can also be a huge help. Many parents find the mornings tough, as it can be the most chaotic time of the day. Struggling to get the kids fed, washed, dressed and off to school on time can be an exhausting task.
Planning ahead can make life so much easier for you, and help to get the day off to a much more positive start. Try to have everyone’s clothing and shoes laid out each evening, so when morning comes, the kids know where everything is. Get bags packed the night before too, this will prevent those last minute panics where the house is turned upside down in search of a lost piece of homework.
Take Care
Parents are very good at taking care of their kids but notoriously bad at taking care of themselves. As a parent, you can often be your last priority, with everyone else’s needs always coming first. Of course, this is done with the best of intentions, and often because it can feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything you need to. Making yourself a priority is also essential. You want to stay as fit and healthy as possible for as long as you can so that you can enjoy life and take care of your kids.
Try to eat a balanced diet so that you are fueling yourself with all the best foods for a busy lifestyle. In addition to eating a balanced diet, you may like to add some supplements to your daily routine such as DL-Phenylalanine. Don’t forget to stay hydrated too, as it can be easy to forget to drink enough when you are busy rushing around.
Stay Calm
No one sets out to be that scary, shouty mom or dad, but unfortunately, the stress can take its toll, and your patience can wear thin. It is crucial to find ways to stay calm. Otherwise, you can end up making yourself feel a whole lot worse. Stress can have such a negative impact on the body, and you could find yourself with a tension headache or heartburn as a result.
Everyone has different ways of dealing with stress, so you need to find the method that works best for you. Some people find that mindfulness and meditation are helpful, while other people take a moment for some deep breathing while they regain their calm. Once you have found a method that works best for you, then don’t forget to keep practicing it so that you can put it into practice when you need it.
Take a Social Media Detox
As mentioned earlier, social media can have an extremely negative impact. Don’t compare your life to the lives of friends, family members and celebrities that you see on social media posts. Remember that social media isn’t reality. Social media enables people to share what they want people to see. Instead, it is usually a carefully curated snapshot of life in that particular moment.
Schedule Some Fun
Being a parent is a joyful experience, despite all those daily moments of stress. It is a cliché but utterly accurate that children are small for such a short amount of time, so it is important to enjoy that time as much as possible. Scheduling in fun activities to do with the kids can make you forget all that stress in an instant and enjoy being a family.
Hopefully you’ve found A Busy Parents’ Guide to Beating Stress to be helpful. If you have any other tips we would love to hear about them. Please leave your ideas in the comments below – thanks!
