Helpful Hints for Reducing Family Stress

(ARA) - Anyone who’s been to the mall recently knows there’s a lot of stress on families these days. Parents are under strain from working long hours on top of their other responsibilities and kids are overloaded with school and extra curricular activities. There isn’t enough time to get everything done, let alone occasions for relaxing and spending time together as a family.

Stress at home can affect job and school performance, which in turn causes more stress. For this reason and many others, maintaining a stress-free home environment is very important.

“The home should be a place for families to relax, recharge and rejuvenate,” says Todd Imholte, president of Environmental Graphics, a Minneapolis company that offers interior wall murals designed to create a soothing home environment.

Is your family under too much stress? Here are some signs that you may be doing too much, compiled by ourfamilyplace.com:

1. Cleaning up the dining area means getting the fast food bags out of the back seat of your car.
2. You refer to your dining room table as the flat filing cabinet.
3. Your grocery list has been on your refrigerator so long some of the products don't even exist any more.
4. Your idea of being organized is multiple colored post-it notes.
5. You get all excited when it's Saturday and you can wear sweats to work.
6. You know the people at the airports better than you know your next door neighbors.
7. You think a "half-day" means leaving at 5 o'clock.

So how can families reduce the stress in their lives, and make sure that life at home is pleasant? Here are some suggestions with help from plainsense.com:

• Don’t think that you are alone in having to deal with family stress; millions of others are in the same situation. It’s the ability to handle stress rather than suppress it that is important.
• Create a peaceful home environment. One way to easily and economically achieve a calming effect in a room is with wall murals. Minnesota-based Environmental Graphics offers more than 20 full color wall murals that feature such soothing subjects as “Oriental Garden,” “Lake in the Woods,” “Daydreaming,” and “Dolphins Paradise.”
• When problems begin to arise, take the time to discuss them as a family. Avoiding something usually serves to intensify it. Once an issue has been discussed everyone can move on.
• Get the whole family involved in doing work around the house. Even younger children can help if they are given a task that is age appropriate. Mom and Dad shouldn’t have to do everything themselves.
• Leave work at work. Set aside some time when your only focus is on family activities.
• Keep things in perspective. Put your energy toward those tasks or activities that bring the most benefits and eliminate the rest.

For a free brochure on stress-reducing wall murals, call (800) 205-0914. To purchase wall murals, visit your local Home Depot store or www.primoproducts.com.

Courtesy of ARA Content

Stress can also be caused by financial and credit worries. Learn more about how to increase your financial outlook.

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