Most families are spending a lot more time together than they’re accustomed to, and experts have advice for parents who may feel that they’re losing their cool. Fairfax County, Virginia, is offering resources to help.
“It’s completely understandable that people are going to have shorter tempers, shorter fuses,” said Allison Lowry, the program manager of child abuse and neglect prevention services at Fairfax County’s Department of Family Services.
The trick is to realize when it’s becoming too much and knowing how to react.
“When your hands are starting to sweat, you’re starting to shallow breathe, you can feel that you might lose your temper — taking that pause” is important, Lowry said.
Some suggestions for when you get to that point:
- Take a deep breath.
- Go into another room.
- Go outside if you can.
- Call a friend.
“Maybe make a pact with one of your friends that when you’re ready to lose it with your kids, you’re going to call each other,” Lowry said. “[Say] that you need them to be there to commiserate or talk you down — something like that.”
On Monday, Fairfax County is launching a parent support line and will begin hosting an online parents’ cafe on Monday evenings, where parents can connect with each other to process through and share different strategies.
Some thoughts that might be exchanged:
- What are you doing during this time?
- How are you dealing with this?
- How are you dealing with distance learning while still doing your job?
- How are you dealing with not losing it when your kid asks for snacks for the 600th time?
The Parents’ Cafe will be held on the conferencing app Zoom on Monday evenings from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. To participate, you’ll need to register at least 24 hours ahead of time by calling (703) 324-7720, or you can send an email to buildingstrongerfamilies@fairfaxcounty.gov.
The Parent Support Line will be active on Monday at (703) 324-7720, or you can reach out via email at buildingstrongerfamilies@fairfaxcounty.gov.
