Stress Relief Ideas for Your Child By: Grandma Jeddah

                Help your child create a “Stress Relief” list to help cope during times when she’s frustrated, sad, or angry. Here are a few ideas you can suggest to your child: calling, emailing or texting a friend or relative, playing a video game, watching a DVD, getting on the computer and even playing with a baby or pet animal. These ideas can be added to her “Stress Relief” list.  Of course, don’t expect your child to immediately resort to her list every time she is upset.  This is simply a tool among many to help guide her toward proper behavior.  As most valuable goals are in life—proper behavior management takes time and practice.

        Another stress management device is learning how to relax oneself through breathing techniques.  Let your child know that when she feels like she’s about to lose control of her emotions, she should breath in and out deeply and slowly two or three times.  Then she should slowly count to ten.  This simple process can prevent many regretful incidents from occurring.

        Deep breathing allows your body to naturally relax itself.  Counting to ten allows your mind the time it needs to calm down.  Used together, the breathing and counting technique can be a useful way for your child to help control her anger.  This technique is most functional for older children aged nine and up. They are more likely to have sufficient control of their bodies to perform the technique.

        Work together with your child to develop positive ways of solving her problems. Introduce her to the many ways she can diminish her discontent.   She will not only appreciate you for showing her the alternatives, she will admire her own self-dignity even more.

This is an excerpt from Grandma Jeddah’s FREE e-Book: Discipline without Disrespecting: 8 Tips to Taming Your Muslim child's Temper.  To download your FREE e-Book or receive Grandma Jeddah's FREE newsletter, visit her at http://www.grandmajeddah.com/

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