Everything is Not Fine
Have you ever had a tough day – a super stressful one – and tried to hide it from the kids? After all, we don’t want them to worry, right? Turns out – they can tell. They know when something is up. And, lets’ face it, often times Dads could teach a MasterClass in hiding emotions. Turns out – hiding our emotions and suppressing our stress – is – well – stressing our kids out.
The last year has been a challenging one. It was right around this time last year that COVID became a real and major issue in this country. Schools started to close, sporting events were cancelled, offices shut down. That brought a lot of uncertainty and stress to many families – stress on top of the traditional day-to-day issues the average family faces. Terri and I were certainly worried about what was ahead – could we stay safe… what was going to happen with by job that required weekly travel and speaking to groups of 100+ daily. As I reflect on this time last year… well, life was stressful. And I did everything I could to keep Naomi from knowing about it. Well – it seems like she knew something was up. A study from Washington State University says our kids can tell when we’re stressed and TRY to hide it which – in turn – can make them more stressed. Truth is – we can and should be more open with our kids on how we’re feeling – especially right now – in the middle of a global pandemic.
That’s what we’ll talk about today with Dr. Sara Waters – our stress, our kids’ stress and how to help all of us work through our feelings.
About the author, James
Thank you for joining me for the Positively Dad journey! My name is James Shaw and I'm a husband and father. I live in the Tampa Bay area with my wife, Terri and our young daughter, Naomi. The goal with Positively Dad for us to think, learn and grow. It's easy to get caught up in the day to day and miss opportunities to become amazing fathers. I trust that the conversations we have on Positively Dad will help you see that fatherhood is truly a journey and that we are better together than figuring it all out on our own.