Your Child's Health Affected by Your Stress

It's funny but sometimes you see the results of a study and think that's a "no brainer." Last week in the Globe & Mail there was an article titled Mom, you're making me sick about the relationship between parental stress and children's health. The article began by discussing the findings of a research project by the University of Rochester which found that there was a relationship between parents with more worries and their children's health.

Parents these days seem to be stressed out and I find that they are caught up in the fact that their children must be involved, registered and enrolled in the right activities, teams and schools. The notion of "keeping up with the Jones's" has been kicked up to a higher level.

It is no wonder that kids may be feeling a little worse for wear these days. When do they have time to play with all the interfering adults controlling their every waking minute. Not everyone is caught up in the frenzy but certainly a good number.

Not only are the monetary costs high but so are the emotional costs. Parents may be working non-stop to pay the fees but they are also doing the running around to get their children to the various activities schools or whatever. A book that I've just scanned but may be a worthwhile read is Pause: Putting the Brakes on a Runaway Life byKatherine Gibson, a Victoria writer, educator and speaker (and I believe from what I have read a mother too!)

I feel I keep harping on the fact that we, as parents, need to be role models for our children in this harried, frenzied world. We need to show them a view of life that has more to it than the running around, being involved in more than we can actually have time for and not stopping to smell the roses and enjoy life.

Pause. Hug your children. Do something different today to show them what life should be like.