Parents should take time to care for themselves, the John Tung Foundation’s Mental Health Center said on Sunday, citing a British study which found that the average parent experiences 40 minutes of child-related anxiety per day.
The study also found that parents reported feeling stress at least six times a day, the center said in a statement.
The most common anxiety triggers include misbehavior by children, putting children to bed, trying to feed them a certain type of food, preventing them from watching too much TV or using devices excessively, and asking them to clean their rooms, the center quoted the study as saying.
Forty-six percent of British parents said that their children wrecked wide swathes of their homes, while 13 percent and 10 percent said their children caused damage to stores and restaurants respectively.
Children also delay simple tasks, adding on average 11 minutes to putting on clothes before leaving home and 12 minutes to eating breakfast, it said.
The study was funded by British Petroleum and had a sample pool of 2,000 British adults.
Raising children is not easy and parents have to adjust their mindset to be positive about the process, Tung Yuk-ying (董旭英), a professor at National Cheng Kung University’s Institute of Education, was quoted as saying.
Parents should ask their children to share what is going on in their lives on the way to school and to think about the mess children make as something they will later recall with fondness, he said.
Time management is important and parents should save some for themselves to avoid feeling overwhelmed, he said, adding that division of labor between parents could be useful in reducing stress.
People should not hesitate to ask for help from relatives and friends if childcare is taking a toll on their mental health, as parents need to be well to care for their children properly, he said.
Center director Yeh Ya-hsing (葉雅馨) said that grandparents could help parents with their children a few days per week, while children should be encouraged to follow clear-set rules that allow them some say with regards to watching TV or using devices.
Excessive discipline that cannot be realistically enforced will bring only frustration to parents, she said, adding that parents can always increase the strictness of rules after the child misbehaves.
For the summer vacation, parents should come up with activities for their children and plan ahead of time, she said, adding that possible options include preparing meals together, inviting friends to visit or exercise.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese