Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Here is how to Desist from Parental Burnout this Holiday Season

“Mom’s don’t enjoy, they give joy”. These words highlight how parenting culture has shifted, focusing more on mothering than motherhood. Because of this change, today’s parents view successful child-rearing as a task. This means we can do more for our kids and families. And if there’s one time of year when we feel responsible to provide happiness for everyone, it’s the holiday season.
There’s nothing like the holidays to highlight not only our children’s manners but also our family values.
Every Christmas, parents strive to make holiday season memorable for their children. They start shopping after Halloween. Before Thanksgiving, they organize festive activities for the holiday season. Yet, in the middle of “giving joy”, holidays become stressful. Because like many mothers, taking care of everything and everyone leaves them exhausted.

As mothers, it can be difficult to manage everything from self-care to family responsibilities. And as research backs it, the mothers can face burnout. Burnout can affect one’s emotional and physical well-being, causing feelings of inadequacy, resent and detachment from family and work life. In this situation, children suffer the most.

How can parents avoid burnout during the holidays?

The holiday season can be intense for parents because of the added workload. To take care of the extra duties, cellphone parentalmonitoring software can help them relieve the stress they have due to their children’s responsibilities. Following are the ways this app can help you lessen some of the holiday burnout:

·         Know where your kids are heading – During holidays, your school going children meet kids with all sorts of different ideas about the holidays. You can encourage them to talk to their friends and learn about their practices. Then help them to figure out your family values and traditions. You can do all this without even being around them. The app will help you track your kid’s location. It will give you real-time location of where they are heading to.

A research by Parenting Research Centre says that more than a quarter of parents of teens said they were not aware of where their children were at all times. This is worrying especially during the holiday season, but the app can give you complete location history of your kid’s musings even if you have been busy all day.

During all the busyness of holidays, you do not want to be preoccupied with your kid’s every move yet you cannot allow your teens to visit certain places that can be harmful to them. For this, the cellphone parental monitoring software allows you to monitor specific locations through its ‘Geofencing’ feature. This allows you to set boundaries around certain locations and you are instantly notified if your kid enters any restricted location.

·         Limit their screen time: According to a Parenting Research Centre survey, another challenging issue for 70 percent of parents of teenagers is the time their children spend on devices. Children spend too much of their time on games and other applications. No wonder you would be planning to gift a new smartphone to your teen this Christmas Eve, but these devices come with their downsides.

Holidays are meant to be spent with family and closed ones. Even if your kid is spending the time to find Christmas gifts online or downloading new games, you need to check it as they squander this beautiful time of being together. So  cellphone parental monitoring software allows you to see a complete list of the apps being used by your children. You can remotely lock their cell phone if you find them wasting their time on games or apps. This will spare that valuable time and you would be able to enjoy memorable moments.
·         Monitor their online activity: Experts warn that as children return home for holidays, parents should be on the lookout for what their children do when using the internet. The number of young children misusing internet is growing with the increase in technological advancements. During holidays, there are many fake offers on the internet and even strangers can trick your child with a veiled offer. Your kid may end up ruining his/her holidays due to a malicious online add. The cellphone parental monitoring software allows you to monitor their emails. You can see all the sent and received emails. You can see which sites are they visiting and how many times have they visited a site. Besides, you can see their chats on the Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, Tinder, and Kik messenger. Keeping their use in mind, you can block any app remotely using the app.

In the end, be mindful:

In the midst of the holiday chaos, it’s easy to overlook how stress affects children. But getting distracted, running around frantically and neglecting self-care may communicate to kids that celebrations are burdensome and make us miserable. The cellphone parental monitoring software relieves this stress during the holiday season.


Sometimes, imagining setting limits around how much we do and spend during the season causes our guilt to arise. We may feel like saying no, believing we’re ruining our children’s fun. But letting go of holiday outcomes by adopting a mindful mindset, focusing on moment-to-moment awareness, can help us remain grounded.

19 Smart Readers SAID::

Alli Smith said...

The holidays can be stressful and all of these tips should really help moms to relax and enjoy the holidays and to make sure their kids are happy, healthy and safe. Monitoring screen time is so important.

AiringMyLaundry said...

I will keep this in mind! I always ask where my kids are going to the point where they find me irritating, but I don't care. I want to know where they're going, who they're with, do the other parents know, etc...

Jeannette said...

These are great tips! I think my biggest problem to over come with my kiddos is too much screen time! We are working on it and hopefully by Christmas they will be cut way down!

joannabri said...

These are great ideas! I wished that this would have been around for my oldest daughter. She's 18 now and I can't monitor any longer. *sigh* Thankfully my youngest daughter isn't too attached to a screen.

candy said...

Our children and have kids of their own. I always knew where my kids were going and honestly we did a ton of family time. Playing board games and putting puzzles together.

Pam said...

The holidays can definitely be stressful on everyone. It is important to consider how stress is affecting your family.

Unknown said...

Such insightful tips! I agree - we have made being a parent these days a chore and we need to get back to the basics!

Liz Mays said...

These are good things to consider ahead of time. I'm hoping we can limit the screen time this year!

Franc said...

Christmas means a lot for kids so parents have that task to meet that expectation. It's really good to understand their needs and also limit their screen time.

Anonymous said...

Avoiding burnout is always the goal. During the holidays, everyday life can be very stressful. These are smart tips to stay sane!

Amanda said...

I have never heard that quote about moms before but let me tell you, I LIVE IT every day. I really need to work on integrating more self care into my day and not being everything for my kids and everyone else.

God4bandme said...

Holidays are supposed to be a time to be able to relax and enjoy friends and loved ones, but it is usually stressful. Thank you for sharing these tips.

Our Family World said...

The holiday season is really stressful. We have to plan for the Christmas meal, get gifts for everyone, and all those other things that take up most of our time. I guess the best thing to do is time management. And to never forget the true meaning why we are celebrating Christmas.

Couponing in Central Florida! said...

The holidays can be stressful. This year I added more stress with a backsurgery last week - the good part is I physically CAN'T Run around crazy like usual. I'm forced to rest.
I DO love the monitoring kids cellphone idea. I will check it out.

Debra Hawkins said...

We have tried to limit all screen time to just what we watch together as a family! I think it has really helped keep our kids in good spirits!

Amy said...

I know Holidays can be stressful for everyone. Last year was especially stressful for us, we closed on our house 2 weeks before Christmas....

sandy n vyjay said...

The holidays are indeed valuable time and can be put to good use for not oly spending quality time with the kids but also bringing them up to speed on family values. These are all some very sensible suggestions that can be implemented.

Anosa said...

This is s great content. I must say I although I am not yet a mom yet, I can still agree with the points being taken here. Definitely a good read and worth sharing to all moms.

Patrica said...

Sure, it’s a good way to monitor your kids with a parental monitoring software, but I have heard not all of them deliver. So I would love to know if there are any reliable parental monitoring software out there.

P.S. thanks in advance.

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