Being there for your kids - Overloaded and Overstressed

Episode Date: February 19, 2019

Are you overloaded and overstressed? Do you have too much to do and not enough time or resources to get it all done? It doesn't have to be this way. First, get a dry-erase calendar and put it up in the kitchen or other common area in your home, for all to see and use. Second, use a weekly family meeting to reflect on what happened and plan for the next week's events. Third, and most importantly, you can't delegate enough. Sharing the load is halving the work. Being all things to all people is an impossibility. Everybody loses. Create group-think in your family and everybody wins. Don't be overloaded and overstressed.

Hi, I'm Dr. John Robinson, and this is Teachable Moments. What to do when there's too much to do? Bobby has a soccer game. Sally is cheerleading on another field. Joe has a book report due tomorrow. Bob is working late and unable to help. You're stuck in traffic. Perfect storm? It sounds like it to me.

What do you do when there's too much to do? First, plan for and organize all family activities. Try not to commit anything to memory. A delightful person was going, some time ago and fussed at me. She said, you know, sometimes you have more on your mind than you have a mind for. What a profound wisdom. If you try to keep lots of things in mind, you are likely to lose some of them. Second, maintaining a family calendar in the den or kitchen of your home will be the place to tag all coming events and activities. Such a calendar is a great planning and

organizing tool. Ideally, it is a dry erase surface with squares for each day of the month, big enough for anyone to list an event or activity in the square. Your youngsters will love marking their own events and activities on the calendar. Third, use the family calendar daily, but refresh the content as part of a weekly family meeting. Sundays after church, during lunch, is often a great time to gather. Talk about what's happened the previous week and what's coming up. Encourage your children to elaborate on their events and brag on them when you can. Use active listening when you feel anyone's emotional fever rise.

Stay on task for completing the list of activities and events for the coming week. Finally, you will never be all things to all people, so give up any goal of perfection and do the best you can. Also, wherever needed and possible, delegate, delegate, and oh yeah, delegate. You can't be there for Bobby, Sally, and Joe when their activities overlap and are at different locations. You can coordinate with other team parents and structure Joe's book report preparation ahead of time with rewards and consequences based on his effort. If you are able to get to Bobby's game today, alternate and get to Sally's cheerleading next time there's a conflict. Kids love having available parents cheering them on.

When there's too much to do, do the best you can by planning, organizing, and delegating. You know, all you can do is all you can do. I'm Dr. Jonathan C. Robinson, licensed clinical psychologist and Christian author, and this has been Teachable Moments. Teachable Moments, Building Blocks of Christian Parenting is available online at AmazonBooks.com and in local and national bookstores. More on Dr. Robinson at TMC-P-I-N-C.com.