- Refrain from giving more than one chance.
- Learn to rephrase your communication. For example, instead of saying “take your feet off the couch” try saying “do you want to take your shoes off or sit on the floor?”
- Parent more by moving yourself (physical) rather than by your words (verbal). For example, when a child is pulling books off a shelf walk over and say, “lets put the books on shelf” instead of yelling across the room many times.
- Before responding take 2 deep inhales and exhales. It is ok to pause. It is in the pause that the patience comes.
- Take time for yourself everyday. Do something you like to do or just sit quietly.
- Take time to connect with friends or spouse once a week. Socialization may seem hard but it is extremely important.
- Get out of house everyday. Run an errand, go to the park or visit a friend.
- Set up boundaries with bedtimes/ dinnertimes/snack times. Try to be as consistent as you can.
- Fill a pitcher of water in the morning and drink it by nighttime. Hydration keeps you from becoming irritable.
- Combat boredom. Make sure there are age level toys available for your child to play with but not too many. (Avoid overstimulation)
- If it is very noisy in the house dim the lights and speak in a whisper. If it is quiet mix it up and play different kinds of music. Changing the environment will assist in changing the mood.
- Focus on the positive rather than the negative. This will change your frame of mind.
