Have you ever had a tough day – a super stressful one – and tried to hide it from the kids? After all, we don’t want them to worry, right? Turns out – they can tell. They know when something is up. And, lets’ face it, often times Dads could teach a MasterClass in hiding emotions. Turns out – hiding our emotions and suppressing our stress – is – well – stressing our kids out.

The last year has been a challenging one. It was right around this time last year that COVID became a real and major issue in this country. Schools started to close, sporting events were cancelled, offices shut down. That brought a lot of uncertainty and stress to many families – stress on top of the traditional day-to-day issues the average family faces. Terri and I were certainly worried about what was ahead – could we stay safe… what was going to happen with by job that required weekly travel and speaking to groups of 100+ daily. As I reflect on this time last year… well, life was stressful. And I did everything I could to keep Naomi from knowing about it. Well – it seems like she knew something was up. A study from Washington State University says our kids can tell when we’re stressed and TRY to hide it which – in turn – can make them more stressed. Truth is – we can and should be more open with our kids on how we’re feeling – especially right now – in the middle of a global pandemic.

That’s what we’ll talk about today with Dr. Sara Waters – our stress, our kids’ stress and how to help all of us work through our feelings.