Stress Reducers for Single Parents

Stress reducers for single parents? That sounds great considering the many stress related symptoms some Christian single parents live with daily. Let’s see, there’s financial stress, job stress, dating stress, single parenting stress, custody and child support stress. Ugh! I’m getting stressed out.

As single Christian parents, it is important to know how to reduce or relieve stress in your life. Especially if you are a solo parent. The following stress reducers for single parents  may help give you some relief.

7 Top Stress Reducers for Single Parents

Stress Reducer #1: Surrender Your Life to Jesus

It’s really true. When we place our trust in Jesus as Saviour and Lord, He promises to forgive us all our sins and take our burdens and stress. How can you beat that?

As Christians we sometimes forget that God is really real, and He wants to meet us in our need. So go ahead, lay your stressful single parent issues on Jesus (1Peter 5:7) and leave them with Him. He can handle it.

Stress Reducer #2: Take Charge of Finances

I feel like a hypocrite talking about this stress item, but it’s really important. Most single parent households are stressfully living in debt and beyond their financial means.



Fortunately, their are many Christian ministries that can help relieve stress in this area of your life. For example, I found a neat stress reducer in Crown Financial Ministries (Crown.org). This ministry offers tons of free advice and articles on how to save money, get out of debt and manage your budget. The ministry also has a radio broadcast you can access through the web. Check it out, and reduce your agida and stress simultaneously.

Stress Reducer #3: Get a Support Sysytem

We all need each other because God created us for fellowship. This is especially true if you are a single parent carrying around a bunch of stress. Christian singles groups offer many benefits for single parents. Other helpful groups include Divorce Care (divorcecare.com), a free international Christian support group for divorced singles with kids.

Another simple way to reduce stress is to create your own network of friends, neighbors and relatives to help give you a break from time to time. I know of a group of several single parents who have teamed up to rotate child care and shopping responsibilities for each other. This plan is relieving stress for all parties.

Stress Reducer #4: Create a Daily Routine

In line with what we teach in parent education classes, having a daily routine is a great stress reducer for you and the kids. This is especially true for the children if you have recently gone through a stressful situation like a death of a loved one, divorce or even a move to a new town. Daily routines put normalcy and safety into stressful lives.

Stress Reducer #5: Be Consistent with Parental Discipline

Kids need to know the rules and boundaries of the household. They also need to know that their parents will uphold the rules. Children living in single parent homes with no clear or consistent rules are often stressed out, maladjusted and rebellious.

Stress Reducer #6: Live and Let Live with the Other Parent

Many times single parents have ongoing disagreements with the other parent over custody, visitation or child support calculations. As a person who has worked in Family Court for over two decades, I know this is a major cause of stress in a single person’s life. However,