Parenthood and family life are not nonstop bliss—even the sweetest, most angelic children can cause a parent a bit of frustration. The important thing is that we find healthy or reasonable ways of coping when we feel angry or frustrated. I tend to be a “cleaner”—I clean, organize, dredge out closets, wash rugs, etc. when I am dealing with family frustrations. What do you do?
I have a friend who exercises away her parental stress. I know if I call and she is on the treadmill that there are likely family frustrations going down in her neck of the woods. Walking, jogging, crafting, and other activities can also be great ways to get rid of that extra tension or work out anger in a healthy way. We cannot be expected to NEVER get angry or frustrated as parents—that would be an unreasonable expectation, but we do need to find healthy ways of sorting through and working out those frustrations that do not involve taking them out on our children! After all, part of our jobs as parents is to model appropriate coping and teach our children how to deal with anger, frustration, irritation, and other unsavory emotions in a positive way.
Positive coping is important—by positive I mean that it is a productive and healthy way to cope with an unpleasant emotion or situation. I would love to hear of other people’s examples of how they deal with the anger and frustration that pops up in parenting and family life. Are you a “cleaner” or an exerciser too? Or do have other strategy or coping activities to work through those stressful, tense feelings? While giving a closet a good cleaning or reorganizing the linen shelves usually works wonders for me, I am open to hearing about how other parents cope with the stressful chaos of family life too!
Also: Dealing with Anger: The Islamic Way
Anger Isn’t License for Disrespect