Turning Family Stress into a Positive Mess

Ever had a bad day at work only to find when you get home the house is a mess, no one started dinner, and you have a pile of laundry that "has" to be done before morning or someones life might be ruined if they can't wear their favorite purple shirt? It is the stressful life of a parent. The signs and symptoms almost any adult would recognize and sympathize with but most children don't understand. So when you say, "pick up your room, do your chores, and you can live without that shirt"...a child hears, "do this, do that, because I said so and tough luck life isn't fair so get used to it." How do you bridge the gap and communicate so both parents and children can understand? That translation tool was just one of the things parents and youth learned about in this week's strengthening families program.
The parents worked with Christy Strickland and Janice Fields, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agents, on age appropriate communication, and how to communicate their feelings in a calm manner so that their children can understand why it is important to follow rules. The youth worked through several exercises with Aggie Rogers and Shea Ann DeJarnette to help them understand parent stresses and how they can help alleviate and express some of those stresses instead of internalizing them and shutting down communication.
After an hour the two groups came together and worked on sharing their feelings, and putting together a very special family tree. This tree shows how important every member of a family is. The grandparents are the roots and children and parents make up the limbs. The leaves for the tree came from the different positive roles and attributes each family member has, which makes the tree very full.
The Strengthening Families Program is a 7 week course. This is the first time it has been offered in Robeson County. Please check back each week to learn more about the course and what our participants think about it. If you would like more information, please contact Christy Strickland at (910) 671-3276.