The "S" on your chest

When the “S” on Your Chest Stands for STRESS

(How it effects your children and ways to handle it!)

By Camille McDaniel, LPC, NCC, CPCS

http://www.healingpsychotherapyga.com

Wife, Sister, Friend, Aunt, Employee, Employer, Bottle Warmer, Diaper Changer, House Cook, Tear Wiper, Taxi Driver, Comforter...

There are so many titles that moms have today, it’s no wonder a little stress (or A LOT) may fall your way. I frequently meet moms who set rather high standards and goals for juggling all the titles they posses, in order to make sure everyone else is happy. After all, that’s what moms do right? Hmmm. When they are not able to meet these monumental goals, they are disappointed and stressed.

Stress can come from many sources, in addition to constant high expectations of yourself. If by chance you are a mom that doesn’t have a strong support system to lean on then you may experience increased amounts of stress.

The University of Rochester completed a study. They followed 169 diverse children for 3 years. The findings of their study were published in a journal called Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. The researchers discovered that continuous parent and family stress can increase strep infections and other illnesses in children. It also appears that children effected by chronic parent and family stress experience and increase in their natural killer (NK) cell function. NK cell function is the part of the body’s immune system that prepares to kill germs that don’t belong, unlike adults, whose function is decreased with chronic stress.

So maybe chronic stress is good for my child since the immune system increases those natural killer cells right? Well let’s put it this way, using the heart as an example. When you get into a situation that frightens you, your heart may start racing, pumping blood to all the organs needed to help you flee danger. However, if that heart doesn’t stop racing, over time it starts to exhaust it’s strength and wears down. That is true for the immune system functions too.

So how can you turn the S on your chest from STRESS to SERENITY? Well let’s try these 5 steps for starters:

WW: A gift

WORDLESS (almost) WEDNESDAY


Amelia begged to buy Daddy a present at the store.

She said he needed something sparkly.

Daddy is thrilled with his new magic wand:

Field Trip

Leaves crunched underneath our sneakered little feet. Birds sang from treetops and clouds. Fuzzy gray squirrels scampered here and there as the terrifying herd of 2nd graders tromped through the woods.

We chattered and giggled throughout the day, trying to listen to the nice man in green as he explained various phenomena of nature. We gawked at the animals in habitat enclosures, especially enjoying the funny little otters as they splashed and chased and dunked.

We slouched comfortably in large padded theater chairs, waiting for the planetarium show to begin. Our eyes twinkled with the reflections of stars from the domed ceiling. We marveled at constellations, hoping to spot them in the real-life sky later that night.

What storm?

I attended a lovely event tonight at the Atlanta AVEDA store in Lenox Mall (co-hosted by the lovely ladies behind The Blogrollers).

Once again, I was able to connect a few real-life faces with blogs and Twitter handles. I also...

--Learned a lot about AVEDA products
   (did you know they are extremely eco-friendly?)

--Received a fabulous hand treatment massage
   (try it! hand massages are offered free just for browsing the store.)

--Got my face "done"
   (AVEDA employees are happy to do yours too - just ask!)

--Tasted their popular hot tea
   (caffeine-free, sugar-free, and delicious!)

On the way home, I battled a severe thunderstorm. I leaned forward over the steering wheel and squinted my eyes, trying to see something in between the fast swish-swish of wiper blades. I blindly followed the brake lights in front of me, occasionally dodging giant pools of standing water. Sometimes hitting them as well, sending tsunami-like sprays over my vehicle and at least six feet in from the curb.