This past week, I read an article in the New York Times titled, “ The Relentlessness of Modern Parenting.” It describes how over the past couple generations, parents have greatly increased the demands they place on themselves when it comes to raising their kids. As a mother of three children, this rings very true. I remember growing up in the 80s, my mom would push me out the door to play outside in the yard and I’d find my way back before dinner. I am certainly part of the new generation of parents that go overboard with themed Pinterest-perfect birthday parties and spends almost all my spare time engaging them in crafts and activities. While our kids certainly benefit from this kind of child-centered attention, as parents, we run the risk of stressing ourselves, and thereby our kids, out.
What is stress?
Most think it’s running late, or an overdue bill, or a when kids throw their dinner on the floor. These are demands, not stresses. Stress is our reaction if we don’t have the energy to interact with the demand. Our bodies were never designed to handle what modern life puts us through. By the time we become old enough to have a child, most of us have physiologies completely saturated with stress and very little adaptation energy left to deal with new demands.
The cost of adding parenting demands
