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Find Your Happy Parent Place
Welcome to a typical mom morning. It begins when your toddler dive-bombs into your bed at 5 a.m. You stumble through the dark for an eyes-half-open diaper change. Next comes breakfast. The daily recipe: spilled milk and fistfuls of Cheerios dumped on the floor. Then you do the dishes and get your child dressed, all before you drink your morning coffee. Are we having fun yet? The answer is not so simple.
Being a parent is inspiring and rewarding, but it's also demanding and thankless. A recent Princeton University survey found that typical childcare tasks are roughly as pleasurable as housework -- in other words, not very. But the fact is that our kids are our pride and joy. How can this be, when they're also a drag on our quality of life?
Happiness experts say it's because people have a natural tendency to forget about life's little annoyances and to hold on to the big-picture good stuff (like watching a kid take his first steps or say "I love you, Mommy"). "We don't have children because we expect them to make us happy all the time," says Daniel Gilbert, PhD, professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of the best-selling book Stumbling on Happiness. "We have them because they give our lives meaning."
If you're frustrated with being a parent sometimes, well, that's totally normal. So lose the guilt. Then clue in to some easy ways to make your frenetic family life seem manageable -- and feel a lot more satisfying.
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There is always a reason behind the challenging behavior. The loving parents need to have patience to finger out the meaning behind the challenging behaviors to provide the children support and guidance to better communicate. Thus parents need to understand the challenging behaviors as to find solutions. Reference: http://www.squidoo.com/dealingwithchildrenwithchallengingbehaviors
1/1/2012 02:40:23 PM Report AbuseVery informative and useful Article. Thanks for sharing.
11/11/2011 04:42:46 AM Report AbuseVery interesting and informative article. Thanks for sharing.....
10/24/2011 06:21:43 AM Report AbuseThank you to the author of this article. It was nice to read. To AshlysMom, when you put the kids to bed at night, try to take some time to spend with your husband. it sounds like you both need it. The important this is that you let him know how much you love him and understand what he is going through with his mom.
8/23/2011 10:26:33 AM Report AbuseI am a single mother of three boys 9,4,&20months. i love being a mother and at the same time i am exhausted with 5am wake-up call, get everyone dressed, teethbrushed, shoes on, all while i am trying to get myself dressed to drop off at daycare, then off to work. I wouldnt change it for anything in the world. my best moment...when they are sleep- there is mommy time, and i love to pull the covers over them and give them a kiss...its priceless!
8/2/2011 02:15:18 PM Report AbuseI really enjoyed reading this story. I am a 36 year old mother of 5 plus husband & mother in law ( who has alzehimer's). At a time in my life when everything I seem to touch falls apart, its nice to read that some dreams do come true. My family is my life, but sometimes I forget about the little things in life that make up the big picture. To say the least, I wish I could find the time & effort to steal away a few smiles/glimpses with my husband. Does anyone have some advice for me?
7/25/2011 06:26:38 PM Report AbuseI love being a mom and I think comparing taking care of them to housework is awful!
7/25/2011 12:10:05 PM Report AbuseThis information was very helpful!
3/29/2011 12:52:45 PM Report Abuse