We all have to deal with stress from time to time and unfortunately, no matter how much we try to protect our children, they too will experience stress. The goal as a parent/guardian isn’t teaching your children how to avoid trying but how to cope with it when faced with stressful situations.
Step 1: Changing mindsets
When we are faced with stress, our thoughts get clouded and things don’t make sense. This happens to our children too. We get into a mindset that stress is a negative emotion and it has no benefits which are not all that true. Although too much stress isn’t a good thing to deal with, it can help us when experienced in moderation. Try to teach your child that stress is needed to motivate us and to grow.
Step 2: What’s the worst that could happen?
We tend to go into overdrive when we are under stress. We exaggerate the problem in our heads so much that we end up panicking about things that don’t even exist. Our children go through this same process, in fact, they will experience it worst as they don’t have years of experience behind them. Always teach your children to ask themselves ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’. Most of the time the issues that cause us stress, aren’t even relevant in 48 hours.
Step 3: Problem-solving techniques
Children need to be taught that although it is normal and rational to experience stress, we can’t let it get the best of us. Brainstorming solutions is a great exercise that you can do with your child. Do let them come up with their own solutions and list out the pros and cons of each solution.
Step 4: Stress-management techniques
Coming us with the solution is important but sometimes that’s not enough for us to calm down and to get rid of that anxiety. Teaching children techniques to manage anxiety such as breathing exercises, listening to music and meditation are important life skills.
Communication isn’t just words but also our actions. Check out your blog on bettering the communication between you and your child:
https://www.childcaremalta.mt/communication/
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