How to Stay Calm Under Pressure

Hey there! You’re listening to the Mighty Mommy with some quick and dirty tips for practical parenting.

A Panic-Inducing Event

This weekend was fabulous! We had a house full of friends over for a barbeque. The weather was beautiful so the kids were running about in the yard while Daddy cooked some burgers. We were taking care to make sure nobody came near the hot grill. What we weren’t paying attention to, unfortunately, was our neighbor’s cactus plant which has grown precariously over the fence and is now hanging over into our yard. My curious little five-year-old found a cute little cactus flower, picked it up and ran inside to show me. What I didn’t see, however, were the tiny threadlike stickers coming out of this little flower. I had thrown it quickly away because it didn’t appear to be something my daughter should be playing with. A few minutes later my daughter is screaming out in pain and I can’t see why. She tells me that her hands hurt, but I don’t see anything wrong with them. That is because the tiny little thorns from the plant are practically invisible. Since I could not see what was causing the pain, I panicked. I thought it was some type of allergic reaction; or that maybe she’d put her hands on the grill. My brain went into overload and worry and complete-freak-out in a matter of seconds! Has this ever happened to you?

The Importance of Staying Calm Under Pressure

Now, first of all, I want to let you know that my daughter is fine. The situation was resolved in less than 45 minutes and she went back to playing happily. I don’t believe she suffered any trauma from it, but I doubt she’ll be picking up any unknown vegetation for a while. I, on the other hand, am still feeling the pressure of having had those few moments of freak-out. My family and friends at the party insist that they couldn’t tell I was panicking, but I know I was. I also know that I overcame the panic and solved the problem, and that’s where I feel successful.

Thankfully, my situation wasn’t worse, but even if it had been, it would have been important to stay calm enough to think rationally. While, I certainly hope that nobody ever does have to face an emergency type situation, it’s still good to be prepared. The more prepared you are, the easier it will be to keep your head and do what it takes to resolve the issue effectively.

How to Be Prepared for Emergency Situations

There are some things that you can do to help you feel prepared for emergency situations. Keeping your CPR certification up to date is one of the first things you can do.

Just because something isn’t life-threatening, doesn’t mean you won’t feel under pressure. I’ve spent a good 30 minutes looking for the phone number to cancel my daughter’s bus pick-up in the morning because I didn’t have it in an easy-to-find place. Nobody was going to be hurt, but I would have felt really bad if the bus driver came to pick her up and we weren’t home. We all worry about different things.

How to Handle Stress Under Pressure

Another tip for handling stress under pressure is to ask for help. That seems like pretty basic advice and it is, but the key is often in how you ask or what you ask for. Be specific. Have you ever asked your spouse for help with cleaning and he responds with, “How can I help?” and you want to bop him on the head with your wet mop? This is not the time to play the “how can I help” game. You have to tell whoever it is that’s going to help you exactly what you need. If you need someone to call 911, ask ONE person to do it. If you say “someone call 911” four people may call and that’s fine, but four people may also stand around thinking one of the other three is going to call. “Hey, you with the purple hat, call 911.” That’s much more effective. If you feel like you are in over your head, let someone know. You can say, “I’m panicking and I don’t know what to do.” Sometimes that will allow you to breathe and will give the heads-up that if someone else can step in and give you a break, now would be a good time to do so.

No matter what happens just remember to breathe. If you feel like you can’t cope with a situation, take a deep breath in through your nose and blow out through your mouth. As my daughter’s pre-school teacher would say, smell the flowers and blow out the candle. You are doing the best you can to look at your situation logically. We can do amazing things under pressure.

That’s it for now.

If you’d like to request a topic for the Mighty Mommy you can e-mail me directly at mommy@quickanddirtytips.com.

Get The Mighty Mommy’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Practical Parenting and other great shows from the Quick and Dirty Tips Network streamed to your iPhone. Download Stitcher for free today at stitcher.com.

This is your friend the Mighty Mommy wishing you happy and fun parenting!