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Parents find ways to lessen stress
FAMILY RELATIONS
Building strong bonds
Dealing constructively with stress, keeping children safe and discussing good parenting techniques were three of the main themes of Saturday’s first Strong Families Growing Safe Kids event at Mill Creek MetroParks Fellow Riverside Gardens in Youngstown. Tips for solid parenting include:
Being a good role model with words and actions.
Instilling in the child at a young age respect for others and property.
Having reasonable, age-appropriate expectations.
Giving them chores that foster responsibility.
Encouraging good eating habits and exercise.
Disciplining fairly and firmly, but with love.
Providing order, security and safety, as well as a schedule of meals and other daily activities. Tell children in advance about any changes to their schedule.
Criticizing the negative behavior, not the child. This includes pointing out alternatives to the undesirable action.
Spending time together and engaging in reading, communicating, walking, playing and other positive activities.
Listening without judgment.
Showing your love each day.
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
Joyce Koellner has generally dealt with daily stress by keeping herself going until exhaustion takes over and she becomes too tired to function effectively.
The result often has been awaking the next day and feeling the same level of stress, then overeating to deal with the negative cumulative effect.
Thanks largely to a 30-minute parenting workshop, Koellner’s pattern likely will see a major transformation.
“I plan to adjust my eating and try to be more active and less sedentary,” the Youngstown woman and mother of four said after attending the program on stress management.
The workshop was to provide participants with helpful parenting skills and positive ways to cope with stress. It also was part of Saturday’s first Strong Families Growing Safe Kids event in the D.D. and Velma Davis Education and Visitors Center at Mill Creek MetroParks’ Fellow Riverside Gardens.
The six-hour seminar included sessions on effectively handling stress, keeping children safe online and helping parents who have youngsters with Down syndrome, autism and other disabilities.
Program sponsors were the Family and Children First Council, Children Services Board and Help Me Grow, all of Mahoning County, and Help Hotline Crisis Center Inc.
Koellner, who cleans residences and businesses for the Beatitude House’s Green Clean program, said she also intends to read and walk more often and allow more time for herself. Accompanying Koellner were her children, Colleen, 5; Corra, 6; Cody, 9; and Candace, 11.
Doing her best to help participants feel a bit less stressed was Cindy Holik, a CSB caseworker and workshop trainer.
Most people have several stress factors at any given time, but the key is learning effective coping strategies for making them more manageable, Holik explained.
It’s important to bear in mind that stress is relative; what greatly upsets one person may have little or no effect on another, she said, adding that universal stressors include work, money and bills, relatives, vacations, holidays, weddings, moving, pregnancies, the death of a loved one and divorce.
Some people use negative coping techniques such as alcohol and drug use, aggression toward others, avoidance and violence. Healthy stress-management tools include making time for oneself, talking to a trusted friend or family member, keeping things simple, exercising, having a sense of humor, eating healthful foods and getting proper sleep, Holik noted.
Children can be a source of stress, but most also love to help, so parents can decrease stress by setting reasonable guidelines and giving their youngsters opportunities to assist with household chores and tasks, she explained.
It’s also important parents set realistic goals for themselves, Holik continued.
“Keep things simple; we overcomplicate things sometimes,” she said.
A great stress reducer for parents and children is exercise, but a healthy attitude needs to accompany that trip to the park, for example, Holik noted.
The event featured games, stories and crafts for children. The Youngstown Connection provided the entertainment.