How to Stay Calm In Stressful Situations

Have you ever looked at other parents and thought, isn’t it crazy that they just know “How to stay calm in stressful situations?”  I mean, parenting is not something you can do without running into problems or stressful situations, but some parents just know how to stay calm in stressful situations and others lose their cool as soon as things become challenging.  So, what is it that these parents are doing that is helping them and can it help you?  Read on to find out.

What Causes Stressful Situations 

Today we are going to talk about handling stressful situations as a parent.  This can be a challenge because there are many different types of situations that can cause a parent stress. Safety concerns are certainly stressful. Your child failing or being unhappy can cause a lot of stress. Having different goals from your kids and not being able to work together throughout the day can be one of the greatest sources of stress for parents.

Regardless of what is causing you to react or feel out of control, it truly is your reaction to these events that we would need to work on to answer the question, “How to stay calm in stressful situations”.

How to Stay Calm in Stressful Situations

I believe there are likely just a few things that parents who seem to handle stressful situations well are doing to prepare themselves for these moments and to remind themselves in these moments and I’d like to share them with you. All of these tips will help you stay cool and calm in stressful situations, but if you really want to know all you can about how to raise your children without yelling, fighting, and constant battles, click here to check out the free workshop called, “How to Get Your Kids to Listen without Raising Your Voice or Nagging.”  

Prepare Your Child Ahead of Time

One of the most important things you can do to become better about handling stress is to prepare for any safety issues and practice code words with your child that inform them of danger.  If you are going to go biking, take the time and effort to make sure your kids have all the safety equipment on that will help keep them safe from falling or mishap. Before you go into a busy place, set aside a very obvious and clear location that can be seen from anywhere to meet up, should they get lost. Teach them your phone number, or sew it into their jacket or on their shoes. 

Have a Safety Word with Your Child

Give your child a safety word. Some special word that your child knows is important. It could be Freeze, Danger, or Safety.  Practice teaching them to stop immediately and look to you for instructions when they hear it.  You should only use this word in moments of danger, not to just get their attention when they are playing.

You can also have a password that you use that your kids know they should ask any adult who communicates with them on your behalf.  This way, if the adult doesn’t know the password, your child should know not to trust them.

When our kids were young, we came up with the word Donut.  It was a mistake my youngest said when she heard us talking about grown ups.  We said, if you don’t know what to do, look for a grown up.  She said, “why should I look for a donut?”,  and that stuck as our family password for years.

Have a Parenting Plan

Another thing that answers the question, how to stay calm in stressful situations, is having a parenting plan.  Knowing what your goals are and how you are planning to meet those goals gives you a way to stay calm when things start to get out of control.

A tantruming child can be a stressful situation for any parent, but if you know your goals, know how you are going to achieve those goals with how you are reacting to your tantrums, then you can stay calm and in control because whether your child is choosing to continue to tantrum or not, they are still learning and heading toward their goals.  When they stop or avoid a tantrum, your plan will lead them toward better outcomes making them more likely to do this in the future, but if they are tantruming, then your plan will show them this doesn’t lead to better outcomes making them less likely to tantrum in the future. Either way, you can remain calm knowing that you are making progress on your goals. 

Remember – The Stressful Moment is Only Temporary

Finally, just reminding yourself that this is only temporary in the moment can be helpful to hold in anger and stressful reactions. Because, if you are planning for safety concerns and you have a parenting plan that is designed to move your kids forward that you are following, it will be temporary and that alone makes it easier to stay calm in stressful situations. 

Learn More About How to Stay Calm in Stressful Situations

To really learn more about how to stay calm in stressful situations sign up for the free workshop called How to Get Your Kids to Listen without Raising Your Voice and Yelling.  And it is chock-full of great concepts and advice.  You can click here to watch it right now.

So, check out the workshop and learn even more about how to stay calm in stressful situations with your kids as well as how to develop your own parenting plan.  Doing this along with taking important safety precautions when out with your kids will help you stay calm and centered as you and your kids enjoy the world.