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Helping Children
Manage Stress
- Teaching our children
to manage stress is a very important part of managing our own
stress.
The last few months this column has focused
primarily on stress in parents trying to cope with raising a
family as well as a successful business. As I sat here thinking
about this month's column and watched my one-year-old daughter
deal with getting off the bottle (complete with tantrums and
tears), it hit me that teaching our children to manage stress
was a very important part of managing our own stress.
Let's face it, a child going
through a difficult transition or dealing with a new situation
can undergo a lot of stress. Their stress can deeply effect our
own well-being and emotional state as well. It's important to
remember that stress doesn't only cause feelings of nervousness,
apprehension or even fear, but it can manifest itself physically
as well. Stress wears down a body's immune system which can cause
children to become ill.
Some common stress-factors in
a child's life include:
- Parent and teacher expectations
- Death of a family member, friend
or pet
- Divorce, separation or remarriage
of parents
- Moving or changing schools
- Lost or broken toys
- Being punished
- Arguments between family members
- Parent's own stress
- Illness or handicap
- Holidays and vacations
Some common signs of stress are:
- Tantrums, aggression, holding
of breath
- Hyperactivity
- Withdrawal
- Biting fingernails or grinding
teeth
- Sleep disturbances or bed-wetting
- Eating problems
- Increased sibling fighting
There are many ways to teach
children how to manage their stress effectively. Some good activities
are:
- Take a time out
- Take a walk together
- Exercise
- Listen to relaxing music (Mozart
is great for babies!)
- Read a book
- Talk about it
- Take a bath or play in a pool
- Use a punching bag or punch
some dough or clay
- Plan ahead and prepare the child
for the change
- Practice slow breathing
- Consult a professional counselor
if stress is really effecting the child in a negative or violent
manner
- Give your child a hug and remind
him you love him no matter what
There are some great links out
there to help children and their parents manage stress. Here
are a few good ones:
Desiree Scales is the Owner of Bella Web Design at 3605 Sandy Plains Rd., Suite 240-121, Marietta,
GA 30066, Email: [email protected], Phone: 770-509-8797,
Fax: 770-509-9488 (if busy, call above number), Web site:
www.bellawebdesign.com.
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