Stress: The Trickle-Down Effect

Your stress affects your kids more than you might think. A few ways to ease it for both of you:

For your kids

• Apologize when you lose your temper — it shows them mistakes are normal and models how to recover from one.
• Ease up if the family calendar is overbooked; give them real unstructured time to relax.
• Eat meals together, and really listen when they open up, whenever that happens to be.
• Make sure they’re getting enough sleep and regular exercise.

For you

• Notice what times of day tend to trigger blow-ups, and plan to be calmer then.
• Lower the bar where you can — store-bought is fine.
• Build in a few minutes of real quiet every day.
• Practice slow, deep breathing when you’re calm so it’s easier to use when you’re not.