Causes of Stress for Moms
By Valerie Mellema
Stress photo © Mark Pierce BigStockPhoto
Being a mom can bring immense amounts of joy to your life, but there is also a large amount of commitment that also brings large amounts of stress. The commitment of taking care of children and nurturing another human being for a lifetime causes a mom to feel large amounts of stress.
While each mom has her own set of unique stressors, there are certain stressors that are universal amongst most mothers. A high percentage of mothers find that their stress comes from the following factors:
Time Crunch
With all of the care and nurturing a child requires, mothers find themselves frequently short on time. Whether it's a lack of time to clean the house and do the laundry or if it comes in the form of a dozen other important activities, mothers often find themselves lacking enough hours in a day to get everything done they need or would like to do.
Financial Stress
Financial stress rears its ugly head in motherhood as well. Daycare, losing an income to stay at home with the children and even eventually sending the child off to college all lead to parents needing more of one thing, other than time, and that's money. Children can easily pose a particular amount of strain on any family's budget and although they are worth the expense, financial stress also becomes greater.
Relationship Stress
Mothers invest a large amount of their lives into their children and this often means that their other relationships in life have to take a back seat, whether it is with their friends or with their husbands. Most new mothers find themselves torn with wanting to have a conversation with someone else other than a child as well as having an intimate relationship with their own husbands. The stress of trying to juggle all of these relationships can often put a great amount of stress on these longstanding relationships.
Self Doubt
It's not uncommon for mothers to doubt themselves. Their number one fear in life is that they are not doing a good job raising their child or children. Because each child is unique in their needs, those mothers with more than one child often find themselves looking for "one size fits all" solutions. This means that they are constantly reevaluating their parenting skills and constantly worrying that they are doing something wrong.
No "Me" Time
Another significant source of stress in a mother's life is simply not having enough time for herself. Many mothers find it difficult to make time for self-care needs and to relax. They simply don't have time for their alone time to do the things they enjoy and this leaves them wanting to do those things without their children, but also feeling guilty for not including their children. They also find that there is simply not enough time in the day to do everything they want to do as well. Many mothers feel guilty to the point that they even want to do these things, which also leads to a significant amount of stress in their lives.
|
