With children, there always seems to come stress. Why? Because is seems parents feel the need to worry, perhaps because they feel they may not seem parently. Or perhaps because it is human nature. Either way, we need to let go of the stress. We can provide good educations for our kids, buy them nice clothes, feed them good food, and explain life to them. We can not always be there for them 24/7. We have to let them make their own mistakes and learn their own lessons of life. I am not saying give your child free reign. If your child know you accept them for who they are and your standards for them are not extreme, they will know they can come to you when they need to. That’s all you can hope for. If you try and put a noose around their neck, they will just hide things from you and that is the last thing you want. It is best to talk to your child about everything you can. Always reassure them. Comfort them when needed. And let them know you are there for them. Set up rules and guidelines and let them know you expect them to follow them. Let them know with them following the rules comes privileges, such as watching TV, going outside, having friends over or extra activities. Children do not like to lose privileges, but as a parent you have to be strong. Many parents try and protect their kids from feeling bad in anyway, including disciplining them. This is not healthy for the child. They must learn for every action there is a reaction. Good actions bring good return and bad actions bring bad returns. Is it not better for them to learn this at a young age when you can be there to talk to them and help them understand why they have been disciplined, rather than wait until they are grown and moved out and not be able to be there for them and to explain the reasoning. Even when teaching them good behavior early on, you may still experience problems that may be stressful. It may help to understand you were once a child and needed to make mistakes and learn things on your own. Give the child a punishment for his actions, stick to them and don’t get to upset about it. Talk to your child, explain why what they did was wrong. Explain they need to use common sense and better judgment for the future. Also let them know you still love them. This does not mean it will prevent any future problems, but they will understand that there are consequences to bad behavior but that you are still there for them in the end. Always remember, it is best not to approach a child when angry or issue a punishment (you may end up telling them they are grounded until they are 18, and unless you REALLY want them to be grounded until they are 18, you should not say it, because otherwise it is looked at as you are giving in and they feel they have won in some way and forget the lesson behind the bad behavior). Simply tell the child you will talk about it in a little bit or that you will decide what their punishment is and get back to them. Don’t wait to long, we are talking about ways to reduce stress here, waiting too long will stress your child out as well. Just give yourself enough time to think about things in your head and decide what you want to say and how long the punishment will be. You can even come back a little bit later with the punishment after you get all the details or the problem. After getting all the details you may need another relaxation break anyway.