According to a new survey by the American Psychological Association, nearly half of parents of children under 18 say their stress levels are high…thanks to the coronavirus pandemic…with managing their kids’ online learning a significant source of stress for many…along with meeting basic needs…missing milestones and more.

The bottom line is that, for many of us, high stress is the new normal. And that is a bold statement considering that stress was already the wallpaper of life for most of us.

The survey found that 46% of parents say their average stress level related to the coronavirus pandemic is high (between 8 and 10 on a 10-point scale where 1 means “little to no stress” and 10 means “a great deal of stress”). And this doesn’t even factor in everything that is going on right now.

While stress some stress is not just good for us (it’s essential for growth and development in all domains of life across our lifetime), when stress is persistently high, it can have devastating effects on the mind, body and spirit.

Constant feelings of anxiousness, worry and being overwhelmed, for example, can…zap energy levels, ruin your mood, adversely affect bodily functions, affect your sleep and hamper your overall wellness.

Even more, children are keen observers, and they both notice and react to stress and anxiety they see in their parents, caregivers, peers and community. Along those lines, if you’re in the boat of parents experiencing heightened stress, anxiousness and worry, you have to prioritize your self-care and try your best to model healthy ways of coping with stress and anxiety.

That doesn’t mean hiding your feelings, trying to subdue your stress or faking it until you make it. Kids pick up on that, and it sets a bad precedent. Instead, it means implementing some of the following techniques to help manage stressful thoughts and feelings, and whenever possible, get your kids involved.

• Breathing exercises, you can look up many examples… but shut off all electronics during this time.
• Daily prayer and gratitude (great things to instill in your children)… think about positives in your life.
• Spending time outdoors; try playing a game with your kids… I personally do this.
• Exercise, including yoga… this can be fun as it ends up creating laughter and let’s you focus on the activity instead of the “stress”.
• Connecting with your social support network… take time to call friends, keep the conversation positive.
• Singing, dancing, humming and chanting, which you can do as a family… let your guard down and be silly.

Now more than ever, there are two more steps to managing stressful thoughts and anxious feelings:

• Setting healthy expectations. This “new normal” means that the bar has been moved for us in many ways. Gyms have been closed. It has been more difficult to acquire certain food. Our job descriptions got a lot more detailed. Things may never go back to “normal”. You may need to create a new normal. And that’s okay.
• Connecting with your social support network. The statistics are clear: You are not alone in this. It is imperative to connect with other parents who are going through similar struggles with similar fears and worries. Common humanity is essential to self-compassion, which is critical to knowing that you are okay and that you’re going to be okay.

Together we can get through this!