“You should write about overstimulation,” Anna said as she cracked the crust on her crème brûlée.
“It’s so real for so many parents.”
As soon as she said it, I knew she had something, because I struggle with overstimulation, too.
It was just the caramel on top to meet up with a good friend for dessert and get a great story idea, too.
Overstimulation is “incredibly common for parents, especially in today’s non-stop world,” says Rebecca Lesser Allen, a clinical psychologist based in Los Angeles. A recent survey found that 75% of parents feel sensory overload.
But I rarely think about the overload until I’m deep in the problem again — shuffling about in the kitchen while the kids shout for my attention. Then, I’m quickly at my wits’ end — yelling or throwing my hands in the air.
“Feeling overstimulated doesn’t mean you don’t love your kids or you're a bad or weak parent. It means you’re human and parenting is hard,” says Allen.
Luckily, there are ways to curb overstimulation and manage it while you’re in the thick of it.
