It’s 6:40 and you’re explaining the same sum for the third time, your son has rubbed out his answer so often that the eraser has gone through the paper.
You never decided to raise your voice, but it’s louder than it was at 6:30.
In the US Surgeon General’s advisory on parents, 48% said their stress was completely overwhelming on most days, and 41% said they were too stressed to function on most days. (US Surgeon General, August 2024)
Very little of that comes out over anything big; it comes out over long division, or over a tantrum about leaving the park.
There’s usually a second or two between feeling it and saying something, and you can practise using that gap.
At The American Wellness Center in Dubai Healthcare City, our Parents Skills Training team works with parents on that second or two, and on what to say once it’s passed.
Catching It in Yourself First
A lot of parents only notice they’re frustrated after the child notices. By then it’s already in your voice; you answer in single words and you sigh before he finished reading the question out.
Part of what lands at 6:40 came home with you, it could be 40 minutes on Sheikh Zayed Road or an email haven’t responded to.
A 2026 review pulled together 25 years of research on mindfulness programmes for parents, 119 studies in all. The most consistent result was lower parenting stress. (Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 2026)
One of the reviews it covered found that where parents’ stress came down, children’s behaviour problems tended to ease as well.
If you’re short with your children most evenings and not only on the bad ones, anger, stress and conflict management for parents works on spotting it earlier.
Tantrums, Homework and The Line You Hold
A tantrum in the supermarket queue is harder than one at home, mostly because of the people behind you. A lot of parents snap there because of who’s watching.
Researchers in China recorded 602 homework sessions across 78 families and counted more than 8 clashes a session on average. Parents came out of homework in a worse mood than they went in. (ACM IMWUT, September 2025)
Correcting mistakes and setting rules, things most parents do with good intentions, were linked to every type of clash they recorded. The boundary still matters, and how it’s delivered matters as much.
Said calmly, a boundary tends to be short:
- “You can be angry. You can’t throw the iPad”
- “We’re stopping at 7, finished or not”
- “I’m not going to argue about it. I’ll be in the kitchen”
When tantrums or homework turn into a fight most days, behaviour and discipline management strategies help with the routines and the consistency around them.
Heard, Without Getting Their Way
Children know the difference between being heard and getting what they wanted. Most can live with a no if they feel you listened first.
Saying “you wanted to finish the level” costs nothing, and the iPad still goes off at 7.
Let them finish the sentence, even when you know where it’s going. Cutting in tells them the answer was settled before they started.
Some evenings you’ll shout anyway. Going back later, once you’ve both calmed down, and saying it was too much counts for more than never slipping.
When the answer to every question has become a shrug, communication between parents and children is where the work usually starts
After The Worksheet
The sum at 6:40 is still wrong, and the hole in the paper is still there.
With 3 seconds before you answer, you might hear your voice going up and bring it back down. You’d probably still tell him to try it again, but you’d say it once and then sit there while he does.
Some nights he still won’t get it, and you’ll both be tired. Homework stops at 7 either way.
The Parents Skills Training team at The American Wellness Center in Dubai Healthcare City works with parents on ordinary evenings like this one.
Book a first session whenever it suits you. Most parents arrive with one particular evening in mind.
