Parenting has never been an easy task. With all the things you’re expected to do to take care of your family, it’s understandable that your patience may wear thin every now and then. When your children push you to the point where you feel like you’re about to lose your mind, there are a few things you can do to help.
Send Them to a Neighbor’s or Relative’s House
All parents have some good days and some bad days. For this reason, it can be good to have an exchange routine set up with some of your close neighbors or relatives. On the days when you’re not in the mood to deal with your kids, send them to someone else’s house. The flip side of this is that you have to expect the other parents to do the same.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help so you can focus on what needs to get done around the house, taking time for yourself to relax and refresh, or whatever you need. A healthy parent is a happy parent! Sometimes all you need is a few hours to yourself.
Hire a Nanny or Babysitter
If you find a regular, occasional break from your kids helps your household run more smoothly and peacefully, hiring someone to help out, like an experienced nanny or regular babysitter, could be the solution you’re looking for. Hiring help with your children can also give you ideas for new activities. Because nannies work with a variety of kids with a variety of energy levels of behavioral issues, they can try different techniques for calming your kids down and making your responsibilities more manageable for you.
Give Your Kids Productive Activities to Focus On
Particularly during the winter months, children can start to get stir crazy indoors. Their crazy easily transfers over to making you crazy. Instead of getting frustrated with your kids, work on reigning in their energy with specific activities for them to do. Give them a goal to work toward.
Keep in mind that things like puzzles and games are only entertaining for so long. However, when kids create their own games and experiments, it makes for a more challenging, long-term (and quiet) activity. One such activity is maze building. All this requires is play dough and toothpicks to create the walls of the maze. This will allow your kids to use their imaginations while learning about building and creating.
Join the Fun
Sometimes when you think your children are making you crazy, it’s time to put down what you’re doing and remember what it’s like to have fun. Playing with your kids not only forms memories and bonds, it also helps to create more structure in your family’s day-to-day life.
Whether it’s just for a few minutes or a couple of hours, step away from what you think you “need” to do and spend some valuable time doing what your kids want to do. This time with your kids will help you get to know them as individuals. You’ll be able to discover the smaller details of their personalities in a fun environment as well as relearn what it means to be a kid. It may be silly or mean the laundry sits in a pile for another day, but it will also bring joy and positive bonds to your family unit.
Ask a Professional about Underlying Issues
It’s natural for kids to be rowdy, disorderly, and even rude sometimes. It’s all part of becoming their own, little people. However, what is not normal is impulsivity, hyperactivity, and inattention to extreme levels. If your child is hard to contain, their behavior is starting to take a toll on you and nothing else has worked, you may want to speak to a medical professional about the possibility of your child having ADHD or another behavioral disorder.
Knowing about any underlying issues can help you with setting proper boundaries, structures, and discipline for your child. Your child’s brain may be wired differently than yours. With the help of a professional perspective, you may be able to understand your child better which will help you and your child connect and work together in harmony.
Children are a blessing and make a family feel complete. But just because they’re cute and you love them to bits, doesn’t mean it’s always going to be easy to raise them. On those days when you just need a moment of peace, think outside the box and come at the situation differently to help you manage the crazy a little better. Understanding children with ADHD, behavioral problems, or just in general isn’t always easy, but it’s definitely worth it!
