Remember when life wasn’t busy? When you could engage in a stop-and-smell-the-roses type of mentality? When it comes to balancing work, kids, and calendars brimming with events, rushing to get things done isn’t just a mindset. It becomes a way of life. But when expectations hang over you like an accusation, maybe it’s time to put the brakes on stress and just stop.
“But wait!” you protest, iPhone in hand. “I work better under stress anyway! And the meetings! The schedules! My kid has to be here, and there, and then I have to –”
Stop, don’t rush!
While you may think that running to-and-fro is better for you, it takes a heavy toll on your child. So, slow down a bit and forget about the concept of time. For a second. Or two. And maybe, you could even learn something from your child. Here are some reasons to stop rushing.
Curiosity is important. If you’re dragging your kid along from place to place, it’s easy for them to miss out on what’s right in front of them. Children learn as much from observation as they do from books or in school. They’re in a world that is a storybook come to life. Everything is magical and interesting. Whether it’s ants crawling on a tree, or the way sidewalk chalk is drawn just so – it’s important to foster an environment where learning and curiosity is welcomed. Not shushed and hurried along.
The stress can get to your kid. Even though you are an adult that knows how to handle stress, your kid is not in the same developmental stage to process all the rushing and time-crunching. When put under these circumstances, kids are more likely to lash out and experience negative emotions. If they’re always playing catch-up, emotional meltdowns are inevitable.
Their ability to focus is hindered. If you instill a lifestyle of rushing, and hopping from one task to the next, it will greatly impair your child’s ability to focus. When your child is in the middle of a task, you should allow them to fully immerse themselves in it. They won’t be able to perform optimally if they feel timeliness looming over them. They might rush through schoolwork, and not do their best because they want to get it done quickly.
They can become overstimulated. As their parent, your child naturally looks up to you and mimics your behavior. Therefore, they will also live vicariously through your schedule and habits. If the stress of your busyness dumps itself onto your child, your child will become overstimulated and won’t be able to process everything naturally. You rob them of the chance to learn things naturally, and instead, you make them feel pushed into doing more and stressing out as well.
You get to appreciate your kids more. This is an obvious – but often the most overlooked – reason. You have your kids for a set amount of time before they rush to their eighteenth birthday, and are out of the house. When you stop, you get more time with your child. Maybe in the middle of all this errand-hopping, you forgot to appreciate the small stuff. If you were pumping your kid to finish their breakfast, you’d miss out on how silly they looked with syrup all over their face. If you told your child to walk faster to get to school on time, you’d miss the cute little way they kept asking questions about the world. And if you told your child to rush, you’d miss out on the bigger picture.
Take a moment. Stop and smell the roses. And maybe rush a little slower next time.
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