Kids have off days just like we do. I'm sure you've had that experience. A day of moodiness, whining, irritability, meltdowns . . . nothing goes right.

An occasional off day can be dealt with fairly easily, but sometimes these trends extend into many days or even weeks. A six-year-old who has been getting herself dressed and tying her own shoes for some time all of the sudden can't seem to get her clothes on in the morning and is whiny and teary when you try to get her ready for school. Your 4-year-old starts sucking his thumb and wants you to hold him like a baby in your lap. Your teen who is for the most part cooperative and takes care care of himself begins lying around the house, leaving stuff everywhere, avoiding homework, playing video games and watching TV all afternoon into the evening. [Side note: If your teen always acts this way, then that is a whole other problem for another blog.]

Here's our checklist for minimizing your child's stress load. This list will work for both young children and adolescents, and should assist you in taking some concrete steps toward enhancing your child's overall quality of life. For a full discussion of the sources of childhood stress, read the article posted on our website entitled "Assessing Childhood Stress".

Stress has become a prominent factor in all of our lives due to the complications of living in a fast-paced society in which we are faced with a multitude of daily intrusions on our inner peace. "Inner peace?" you ask. "What's that?" Precisely. For parents, the stress is played out day after day as we struggle to meet economic demands (which often means that both parents work), find affordable day-care, deal with schools, teachers, our kids' homework and academic struggles, etc.