Help for the Overwhelmed Dad

The house is clean but you’ve been busting your tail working on it all day. The wife will be home soon, and dinner isn’t ready. The kids aren’t bathed, and they are yelling for everything under the sun except everything you’ve spent the day giving them.

You’re dirty, tired, muscles are sore from hours of baby flight time and horsey rides, and now they won’t stop crying. It’s enough to bring even Dr. Spock to his knees in tears. Then the wife comes home tired and cranky from work and looking for dinner. What’s a stay at home dad to do?

It happens to everyone whether they are at home all day or not. Stress builds and tension spreads across the body and quickly approaches critical mass. But before you freak out and make a scene in front of your loved ones; try some of these techniques.

Send yourself to time out. Take a few moments away (if you can), get someplace where you can be alone for a few and calm down. Sometimes distancing yourself from the problems can bring new perspective and give you a moment to process all the over stimulation you were getting that was causing you stress.

Get in shape. Much of the stress we receive in life we quickly learn to deal with out of necessity. Perhaps, you just need to increase your ability to handle that much stimulation from your family. Get your stress management in shape and learn to handle the constant bombardment of questions, tantrums, and housework.

Check in with yourself. Keep analyzing your own stress level to make sure that you are in balance with the situation. Often times, this requires family to inform you. Have your wife and kids tell you when you appear to be getting more and more tense so that you can adjust and give a more appropriate response.

Be prepared. A lot of stressful situations can be lessened or avoided completely by being well prepared for the situation before it arises. If readying for the day and getting the children out the door for school is the stress in the morning perhaps planning and laying out clothes the night before would be best. Attempt to anticipate the future issues that might arise and plan accordingly. You’d be amazed at the changes it makes!

Become accountable. Realize that you are the only one at fault for your own outbursts and feelings of being overwhelmed. If you tend to blame others for your loss of temper and feelings of stress, it will only worsen the problem. As soon as you can take responsibility for you own actions you start to make the changes that are necessary.

Take a deep breath, realize that all things in time shall pass, and keep your head. Ultimately, you will see this through to the end because you are strong enough to handle it all. Overwhelm happens to everyone and you are not alone. It’s a daily struggle to control yourself but with practice you can handle it.