UPDATED June 2nd, 2018
Raising kids is scary, stressful and exhausting, and anyone who tells you otherwise has never tried to do it. It’s totally normal to feel overwhelmed and totally fatigued by parenthood; in fact, there’s even a condition called DMS: Depleted Mother Syndrome. As psychologist Rick Hanson, Ph.D. and Jan Hanson, MS, authors of Mother Nurture: A Mother’s Guide to Health in Body, Mind, and Intimate Relationships explain in their book, DMS occurs when moms get so run-down after having kids that they become susceptible to illness, they experience physical pain, constant fatigue, loss of nutrients, depression and more.
At times you may wonder if you can handle everything that comes with being a parent. Spoiler alert: you totally can. And luckily, there are tons of tricks and shortcuts to help you make it through the day in one piece, and maybe even feeling confident about your parenting skills. You know that mom at the playground who seems like she has all her baggage (literal and figurative) in order? Sure, she might be a super-mom, or maybe she just takes advantage of all the parenting hacks out there to make life a little easier.
Let’s start with reverse psychology, because we’ve all tried this once or twice, and if you haven’t, you’re missing out. According to Health Guidance.org, reverse psychology is when you “say something or respond to something in a way that is opposite to what you really think in order to get the opposite response from the other person.” Confused? When it comes to your kids, it basically means you tell them to do something that is the complete opposite of what you actually hope they’ll do. For example, if you say “do not eat your peas, I only want you to eat your French fries” but really you want your kids to eat all of their peas. Or if you say “there is no way you can put on your pajamas by the time I count to 10” in hopes that they’ll work really fast just to prove you wrong. Believe us, it works. Every time.
Read Related: Modern Mothering: 12 Parenting Rules that Could Use a Revamp
