I’m going to self-disclose right now that when my young daughter came home from school last week she was upset because she heard that “if you catch the virus, you can’t be near anyone”, her young mind interpreted it as “if you catch the virus, you have to be all alone- without your mom and dad.” Sad right? Anyways that’s been cleared up and we’re good. But I know many parents struggle with these conversations.

“Why is it so hard to just relax?” “Why can’t I turn my thoughts off?” Sound familiar? So many anxiety sufferers struggle with the quieter moments in life or have difficulty relaxing. It’s a vicious cycle, you go to work and look forward to the end of the day or weekend, you get there, and you can’t escape your mind. Somehow, your desired time becomes stressful and without learning to properly control these thoughts or utilizing good coping skills, many people turn to maladaptive behaviors. Drinking, drugs, binge eating, excessively exercising or anything to stop the mind from examining every detail of the past or future. I get it, it’s exhausting. Maybe you can relate and let me tell you MANY PEOPLE FEEL THIS WAY.

The behaviors, actions and performance of a child are out of a parent’s control-right? I mean you can help prep them for a test, big game or practice manners and socialization, but when it really comes down to it, it’s on them. This often very hard for the “Pusher Parent” to accept, so they just keep pushing in an effort to try and control their child’s outcomes. As a reminder from my previous blog, a “Pusher Parent” is an extreme term to represent the parent who is more involved in their child’s performance than they are and despite hard work are unable to achieve the “Pusher Parent’s” expectations.