Morning anxiety

[Lostforwords21]

Hi all, 

I have seen a lot of posts in here about morning anxiety and how people manage it. Wondering how you manage it with children around? 

[Petal22]

Hi Lostforwords21,

I understand that when we have anxiety in the morning and also have children to look after it’s a bit more of a challenge.

Something that use to help me was mindfulness in the morning…… 

If your making your children breakfast or dressing them just really try to stay in the present moment and focus on the task at hand.

If your making cereal how does the milk look, what can you hear what does the cereal smell like.

By doing this exercise it will help you to come out of your head and into the present moment.

[ecomama]

Hey Lfw21, welcome to the forums. 

Good question. The wheels can always fall off the wagon with kids around lol. 

When the kids were little I woke up at least an hour (sometimes 2 or 3h because anxiety is a wonderful thing!), before waking up the kids. 

Having breakfast foods already on the table helps. 
I set that up after clearing the dinner mess the night before. 

Having the kids involved in prepping for the next day may be fussy to begin with but this daily practice helps them learn independence far earlier than if we do everything for them. 

So... school bags packed, uniforms & shoes out ready. BOTH shoes!  

If the kids seemed anxious too, I played very relaxing music to wake them up gently. 
I never let them watch TV or screens before school. Ever lol. 

Having the kids empty out their school bags as soon as they come in the door, helps us see any Excursion or Head Lice notes (lol!) straight away and all scabby food out immediately. 

The kids selected their fruit and snacks in the morning while I made sandwiches. 

Teaching them skills takes time, planning and patience but it is SO worth it in the long run! 

I have Complex-PTSD so I've had to learn ways to manage this and family life. 
Love EM

[ree1610]

When I wake up anxious and my daughters around or I suddenly feel anxious I try to put some music I like on and focus on that . Or I take deep breathes . Even focusing on what’s around me sometimes helps . (I can see my daughter , the tv which is on , I can hear the tv) anything to distract myself from my thoughts and how I’m feeling . It can be very hard at times but the feeling isn’t permanent and personally for me I find as time goes on it tends to start to subside a little