Macaroni Kid Reader Asks:
How can I already feel so behind when school is just starting? I’m overwhelmed from just having returned from vacation, doing all that I need to do for my three kids to begin school, let alone completing my own list of tasks for home and work. Help!
Noel Janis-Norton
We definitely want the beginning of the school year to be a calmer, easier and happier experience. It’s natural to feel overwhelmed after a vacation when we return to stacks of school forms, supply lists, books to purchase, bills to pay – and these on top of all the other things we do every day as parents.
But when we feel overwhelmed, anxious and stressed, our kids feel it too and none of us want our kids to take on our own anxiety. We want them to start the school year feeling confident and ready for the social and academic challenges that each school day presents - not rushed and anxious.
I’ve talked a lot in my columns about a Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting skill that I call Preparing for Success. Usually I talk about it in relation to our kids, because it’s all about specific strategies we can use to set our children up to succeed, to do things right. It’s also equally important that we apply this to our own lives, to be proactive and set ourselves up to succeed, reducing the feelings of being stressed and overwhelmed.
Just yesterday a parent told me about how she was handling exactly what you are going through. She and a friend were on the phone complaining about their footlong to-do lists and feeling completely overwhelmed with all they had to do with preparing their kids for the start of school and managing home tasks/projects.
They decided to text each other a list of four things that each could reasonably achieve the next day and then as they did each one, they would text back that it had been checked off the list. School medical forms – check! School supplies – check! Vacation mail opened and sorted – check! Worked out – check!
They decided to text each other a list of four things that each could reasonably achieve the next day and then as they did each one, they would text back that it had been checked off the list. School medical forms – check! School supplies – check! Vacation mail opened and sorted – check! Worked out – check!
They could not believe how much they were able to accomplish with this simple strategy. It was so much more motivating having the list written down, feeling like they had a team instead of being completely isolated doing these tasks. They also felt more accountable for their list and communicating with the friend was fun. After two days of sharing their lists and completed items, they said they went from feeling overwhelmed to feeling like they were efficiently managing their lives, pleased with all they were accomplishing both for the family and for themselves.
As parents, taking care of ourselves is so important and it’s often the very last thing we think about. Another way we can Prepare for Success and to make it easier to be our best is to build time into each day for something fun. If this seems like a daunting proposition, think about it as something you need to do for your children’s sake. Scheduling something fun for yourself will help you be a more positive and consistent parent. So for their sake, schedule in some fun, on your own or with your partner, if you have one.
When we take proactive steps to help ourselves feel less stressed and overwhelmed, the result is a calmer, easier and happier experience for the entire family.
Do you have a question for Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting? If so, email us at info@calmerparenting.com. And for parenting tips, you can sign up for our newsletter and follow Noël on Twitter @calmerparenting.
