School holidays can be a time that parents feel stressed about. By firstly recognizing what your ‘stress triggers’ are and planning as to how you will cope with these, it can help you feel more in control. Learn to accept that it will not be all smooth sailing, but you are trying your best and that is all you can do. Here are some helpful tips to manage any stress you may be experiencing.  

Identify the “Stress Triggers”
Try and notice the following that make you feel stressed during school holidays: What are the triggers? Who else is involved? What is happening (or not happening)? Is it a specific time of day or day in the week? 

When you identify your stress triggers, you can start to make changes to anticipate those situations and handle them differently, or avoid them altogether. Try visualization exercises (imagine yourself in the situation and see it through to a successful completion).  

Plan Ahead 
One of the most helpful things you can do is to plan ahead as much as possible. You will better manage your stress levels if you have a scheduled plan for each week and for each day. This will also help you to have focus and direction as to what you are doing.  

Prioritizing Tasks 
Try using a ‘traffic light system’, by coding tasks as ‘red, amber, and green’. Red are things that need doing urgently and cannot be avoided, amber are things that need doing, but they can also wait, and green are ongoing tasks which you can spend a short time completing, but are not essential. When you plan these tasks, be realistic about what you can commit to.  

Be Mindful 
When you are with your children, pay full attention and be fully present by using all of your senses. If you notice feelings of guilt or stress, just allow the thoughts and feelings to be there without judging them and gently bring yourself back to what you are doing right now, paying particular importance to sounds, what you can see, and touch.  

Mastery versus Pleasure
It is important to have a range of activities that provide you with both a sense of mastery (things that give you a sense of achievement; for example, doing the housework, or completing homework) as-well as tasks that you enjoy doing and are pleasurable, for example, going for a swim, baking your favorite cakes, or dancing to music that makes you all feel good.  

(Written by: Mandeep Jassal, Cognitive and Behavioral Therapist, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Practitioner)