Parent Tips for a “no burn-out, no bummer” summer with kids
Let’s face it: for parents, the unbridled enthusiasm that summer break used to evoke, very likely — and understandably — diminished as worries about scheduling, daycare, camp sign-ups, and more, took precedence. And when the pandemic hit, the concept of long, unstructured, freeform days with kids who had nowhere to go (while parents, of course, still had jobs to do), incited a ton of anxiety, to be sure. It also resulted in the exacerbation of a phenomenon that was well documented, even before the pandemic: parental burnout. All that said, parental burnout isn’t an inevitable result of caring for kids — even during a challenging time like the summer. San Diego-based licensed marital and family therapist and mom of two young boys, Alyssa Mass, MFT, a personal and professional veteran of managing stress and overwhelm with young children, has some tools for parents to preserve their sanity and lower their stress levels over the summer and beyond.