Hi everyone, and welcome to our first topic of the week!

This week's topic is STRESS RELIEF. As parents, our lives are pretty stressful to begin with. Once you add in everything the rest of our lives throw at us, we ALL need a break.

So what do you do to relieve stress?

I enjoy kicking back with my laptop, the tv, and a glass of wine after my daughter is in bed. That's a daily ritual for me to unwind.

When things get really bad and I'm feeling totally overwhelmed, I leave the Husband in charge and head to the public library (surprise!). I like to browse, read magazines, wander around non-fiction and pick up whatever looks interesting... I find it incredibly relaxing and it almost always helps me get my head back on straight.

Mmm... let's see. Did you know that stressed is desserts spelled backwords??? It is also a powerful antidote. The 1st step is to try to eliminate the source of stress. Usually it is my boys getting spun up and out of control. Tonight was such a night.

The chocolate cake in the fridge was a great motivator for them to do their own dishes, take a shower, and put on p.j.s before they could have it. I also told them that they all had to be good. If there was any bad behavior by anyone, they all would lose.

I find a nice hot shower and some quality time with my laptop with a nice cup of hot tea is relaxing. It also helps that my bad boys are in bed!

Hi Ladies,

Stress relief... with kids... Hmmm... sometimes banging your head against a wall works, ... cos at least it feels good when you stop...

But serious, what about a 15 minute meditation / deep relax? Especially in the afternoon when the baby or toddler is down for a nap (and "Don't" tell me you Don't have time... My mum, always had a nap in the afternon and it kept her mostly sane.)

And keep a nap to less than 30 minutes... There's physiological reasons for that...

I did put a download on my page, (that is included with paid membership at my website www.smart-parenting.com ) for the girls, OK mums, act cre8buzz...

I have a whole bunch of people using it including a 10 year old girl who hasn't needed her asthma medication since she put it on her MP3 player.

And Piper of Love... Cool..!! I blew a whole bunch of teenagers away on a trip we had in a bus, when I knew all the words to the songs circa 50's- 80's.. (of course it could have simply been the tone.. heh heh...)

Hey, try this game with young kiddies, it has it has it's uses as you will see...

Its called the "Stop & Freeze!!!" game and I'mm going to say "Do Something" and you have to do it... But when I say stop you have to freeze and the slowest has to leave the group.. OK?? Ok..

Lets .. Jump up and down... and wave your hands about make as much noise as you can and... and STOP!....

(at this point they have to freeze and be quiet -then the the slowest or the last one to freeze has to leave... no movement no nothing... )

and then start again...

The reason for this game is for safety... Children often don't hear the word "don't"; its the first word of a sentence, they me focused somewhere else and even if they do... the wind could carry it away.. but more importantly the subconscious mind doesn't process a negative, until it process the other side of it..

Let me give you an example... "DON'T Think of a Pink Elephant..."

Its uses???

Imagine , you see your littlie chasing a ball toward the road and you might normall yell "Don't chase the ball out onto the road!"

(what if they didn't hear Don't???)

STOP! is so much effective:)

Anyway, have a great day, and remember to stay stress free.. check out the download, and if you like it please pass it on to the other cre8buzz ladies..

Oh.. I hope you understand the Aussie accent.

A nice strong cocktail, seriously, it works!

If I can grab a few minutes of quiet time, I love to read... to just lose myself in a good book. If not, I go to taekwondo class and work out as hard as I can, and sweat out my frustrations. Hopefully we get a little heavy bag work or some sparring in... great stress relievers!

i have two types of stress in my life right now. normal everyday stress and so-tired-i'm-almost-comatose stress.

to relieve my normal everyday stress, i like to papercraft. i'm big into cardmaking, and there's nothing like a burst of creativity to make me forget all my stress!

when i'm near comatose, there's nothing i like to do better than to snuggle up on the couch with my hubby and a nice cozy blanket to watch some TV. i'm a bit of a TV addict, but it really does help me relax...especially when i'm so tired that my brain won't allow me to do anything else!

I blog or scrapbook or read to relieve stress.

OMG do I need stress relief!! With working, going to school full time and the four monkeys I often feel like tearing my hair out!

After work I have a half hour drive home, I blast the radio, have a cigarette (yes, I know), and sing at the top of my lungs. By the time I get home I'm relaxed enough to go to bed.

Normally I love to read . . . however the college textbooks I have time for now don't do the trick. At home I'll put the 2 yr. old to bed, turn off the bathroom light, and take a bubble bath in the dark!

Lastly, is my beloved internetz. Reading blogs, writing blogs, designing blogs, I LOVE IT. However, my goal is to be just like A Fine Frenzy. I hear that treadmill calling to me!

I make my husband give me a massage. He's good that way, lucky me.

But, in case he's not around? We do the dancing around thing too. We call it a "dance party in the kitchen."

Also, I love to go to a bookstore and just get lost in something new, or I'll watch a few hours of Everybody Loves Raymond...

Or I'll eat me a whole lot of food that isn't good for me one bit. I'm working on that one. :)

I'm getting some good ideas here... it's awfully hard to make a one year old understand "mommy needs a break," but our version of dance party - running around the house waving our arms and yelling - usually does the trick for both of us.