How to Stay Calm While Parenting

Source: wikiHow

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When things get heated between you and your kids, it’s easy to let your emotions get the best of you. Keeping calm while parenting is an important tool, though.

A calm attitude helps you think through things rather than reacting in the moment. It also lets your child know that you’re in control of the situation. So take a deep breath, speak clearly and slowly, and help both you and your child calmly work through situations where emotions may otherwise drive the conversation.

1. 1 Take a deep breath. One of the easiest things you can do to help keep from reacting emotionally is to inhale deeply, hold the breath for 2-3 seconds, and exhale slowly. This doesn’t need to calm you down completely. Instead, a deep breath helps keep you from exploding in unplanned and emotional ways.^[1]
   • Take as many breaths as you need so that you feel prepared to move forward. Your next step may be to keep the conversation going or to remove yourself from the situation temporarily. Either way, you should be able to do so in a cool, collected manner.
2. 2 Count down to a calm moment. You can practice this mentally to help keep yourself calm, or you can count out loud for your kids. Try slowly counting backward from a number like 5 or 10 down to 1. By the time you reach 1, your goal should be to speak calmly about a situation with your child.^[2]
   • If you are counting in your own mind, try taking a deep breath with each number. As you breathe in between each number, let yourself know, “in…

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