"For parents of school-age children, this time of year is all about new beginnings: new teachers, new routines, and the hope that our kids are set up for success. Parents often feel a sigh of relief when summer ends and the house is quieter. But just because the kids are out the door doesn't mean the stress of parenting goes away."
"1. Practice Mindfulness Mindfulness isn't about sitting perfectly still on a cushion. It's about pausing, noticing your thoughts and feelings without judgment, and making conscious choices about how to respond, instead of being on auto-pilot, reacting and possibly regretting your actions. Even two minutes of mindful breathing before school pickup can help you reset, lower stress, and approach your child's mood or homework struggles with more patience."
School-year routines introduce new stressors for parents, including social conflicts, academic pressure, moodiness, and performance expectations. Workplace demands, relationship fluctuations, and financial concerns often compound parental stress, making daily moments and larger crises harder to handle. Parental self-care influences parenting behavior and family well-being; reducing parental stress improves responses to children's moods, homework struggles, and school conflicts. Practical strategies include brief mindfulness pauses to notice thoughts and choose calmer responses, cognitive-behavioral techniques to reframe catastrophic interpretations, and building peer support with other parents for resilience and self-compassion.
Read at Psychology Today
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