October 2023

October 19, 2023 by bohlen19

Psychology Today defines burnout as “a state of emotional, mental, and often physical exhaustion brought on by prolonged or repeated stress.” Parental Burnout is experiencing those forms of exhaustion due to parenting. For example, I get myself up earlier than my family to get myself ready so then I can get everyone else ready. Then its getting kids dressed, packing lunches, getting backpacks ready, and reminding them for the 100^th time to put their shoes on. By the time I get to work, I’ve already put in a couple of hours. After my 8-hour workday is complete, I’m rushing home to help with homework and fix dinner before it’s back out the door for sporting practices and/or games. The evening concludes with getting the kids to set their clothes out for the next day, baths, and bed. I fall asleep praying that everyone sleeps through the night and then wake up the next morning and do it all over again. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

In 2022, The Ohio State University Office of the Chief Wellness Officer and College of Nursing released a working parental burnout report. In the report they shared that “burnout is associated with depression, anxiety and increased alcohol consumption in working parents, as well as the likelihood for parents to be irritable, get easily angered with their children or  engage in punitive parenting practices (i.e. yelling, insulting/criticizing, curing, spanking).”

Are you feeling a little burned out? Ask yourself these 10 questions to assess:

1. I get/feel easily irritated with my children.
2. I feel I am not the good parent I used to be with my child(ren).
3. I wake up exhausted at the thought of another day with my children.
4. I find joy in parenting my children.
5. I have guilt about being a working parent, which affects how I parent.
6. I feel like I am in survival mode as a parent.
7. Parenting my child is stressful.
8. I lose my temper easily with my children.
9. I feel overwhelmed trying to balance my job and parenting responsibilities.
10. I am doing a good job being a parent.

If you find that you are in severe burnout, please consider seeking help from your healthcare provider. If you feel you’re mildly to moderately in burnout, you can take action by starting some preventive interventions such as:

1. Practice good self-care
2. Be kind to yourself.
3. Talk to someone you trust about how you are feeling.
4. Build your mental resiliency and coping skills.
5. Ask for help.

Interested in learning more about this topic? I encourage you to check out the tips and tricks webinar where they go deeper into this topic.

In the short term, we feel like we can power through, but in the long term, we are neglecting our own basic needs. Taking a little time each day to nurture your well-being will help you be a happier person. You and your family deserve the best possible you!

Written by:  Amanda Bohlen, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Ohio State University Washington County.

Reviewed by: Alisha Barton, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Ohio State University Extension Miami County.

Sources:

Fradin, K. (2023, April 13). I’m a prediatrician-here are the unseen challenges working parents are facing. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/90879953/the-unseen-challenges-working-parents-are-facing

Psychology Today. (n.d.). Burnout. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/burnout

The Ohio State University Chief Wellness Officer. (n.d.). Burned out by pandemic parenting? You’re not alone . Retrieved from https://wellness.osu.edu/chief-wellness-officer/parent-burnout

With the holiday season comes gift-giving to our young people. Often, the gift box contains new technology for our teens and even younger children. The device could be a first cell phone, tablet, or even a laptop. When our young people exhaust playing with toys, we default to technology as the next level of gifts. My children are young adults now, but I can remember back to the iPod, laptops, Nintendo DS, Wii, and smartphones opened from the boxes at Christmas. For my son, we waited until 13 for his first phone, but for my daughter, we surprised her a year early at 12. As adults, we were in control, and we decided when they would get access. However, looking back, I would have delayed gifting some technology until later. 

It does not have control when it is in the box, but once you open Pandora’s technology box, devices can control a person. It is hard enough as adults to have the willpower to set down our devices. Young people struggle even more without fully developed will-power or self-regulation. Healthy boundaries are good to provide and can benefit children’s mental health. Setting technology boundaries before a device is out of the box or turned on for the first time is the best practice.

Some best practices include setting up data limits. If the data runs out, they can still use the device as a phone or in Wi-Fi, but they have just exhausted their “connected time”. Most phones now come with a screen time feature that limits time on certain apps, at certain times of the day, or which apps can be downloaded. Use these features to help enforce the guidelines, but do not depend on them alone. The Internet is a dangerous playground for youth to access unsupervised. Set restrictions on which types of websites they can visit and ensure all Internet use is done in public spaces.

Phones also have helpful features, like knowing your children’s location or contacting them after school. Some educational apps will help youth study and learn about different topics. Show your youth how they can be content creators rather than just consumers. Many apps teach youth coding to create the app versus just consuming the app. Ohio 4-H just launched a program called Clovers CODE, which helps youth in 4-H learn to create apps and the code behind the app.

Modeling guidelines is also important. If your family rule is no phones in bedrooms, then have a family charging station in a central place in the home. Introduce a “no phones at dinner time” rule and abide by that. Show your children that immediate responses to their friends are not urgent and can wait by delaying your own replies. And instead of spending time on devices, enjoy time together this holiday playing family games.

As you wrap up all your boxes this holiday season, do not forget to think outside the box and set your family boundaries before the technology is gifted to your children.

Written by Mark D. Light, Ph.D., Leader, Ohio 4-H STEM & Digital Engagement Innovations

Reviewed by Jenny Lobb, MPH, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, Ohio State University Extension Franklin County

References:

Abi-Jaoude, E., Naylor, K. T., & Pignatiello, A. (2020). Smartphones, social media use and youth mental health. Canadian Medical Associaton Journal, 192(6), E136-E141. https://www.cmaj.ca/content/192/6/E136

Dempsey, S., Lyons, S., & McCoy, S. (2019). Later is better: Mobile phone ownership and child academic development. Economic and Social Research Institute. http://aei.pitt.edu/101971/1/RB201903_01.pdf

Wiles, B. B., Schachtner, L., & Pentz, J. L. (2016). The New Screen Time: Computers, Tablets, and Smartphones Enter the Equation. Journal of Extension, 54(2), 10. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/joe/vol54/iss2/10/

October 8, 2021 by jmlobb

On Monday, Facebook and Instagram were down for about six hours. Did you panic? My guess is that unless you run a business or depend on Facebook for ad revenue, you survived the six hours. It is interesting how connected we are to our phones and digital lives, yet when forced to be without them for a period, life goes on. Monday evening I mowed my grass for two hours and I had one singular focus: to mow. Imagine what my yard would look like if I were watching a video, scrolling on Facebook, or texting while mowing. It seems crazy, yet that is what we are often doing on our digital devices – multitasking.

Technology has allowed for multiple means of connecting with family and friends. Using technology as a tool to be more efficient can be a benefit, but if not managed, these multiple forms of electronic communication can be stressful to the person. This technostress, which is the stress of being overwhelmed by technology, does not allow us to easily disengage from social media or our devices. Our phones allow us to multitask by being at one location or event while communicating or doing tasks not related to the occasion. Constantly being on the phone was initially a young professional phenomenon, but now owning a smartphone is commonplace in all generations as most people have a smartphone. Even the presence of a smartphone nearby causes a person to wonder what they might be missing by not checking notifications.

Productivity and solving complex problems have been reported to improve given blocks of uninterrupted time free from technology to focus on specific tasks. Author and Professor Cal Newport coined a term for these blocks of time called “deep work,” which he defines as “professional activity performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit.” Just as the social media outage gave us the ability to have a block of time without technology, I want to invite you to schedule your own “outages”. These deep work blocks of time could give you a focused time of productivity, as multitasking is just task switching. In addition, screen free times can allow our minds a break from technology. Even if you don’t have a yard to mow, schedule time on the mower and give yourself a break!

Written by Dr. Mark D. Light, Leader, Ohio 4-H STEM & Digital Engagement Innovations

Reviewed by Jenny Lobb, Family and Consumer Sciences, OSU Extension Franklin County

Sources:

Light, M. D. (2021). Exploring the Adaptability of Ohio State University Extension County 4-H Professionals to an All-Digital Setting During the COVID-19 Remote Work Period Based on Selected Variables and Their Relationship to Change Style Preferences (Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University).

Newport, C. (2016). Deep work: Rules for focused success in a distracted world. Hachette UK.

Sellberg, C., & Susi, T. (2014). Technostress in the office: a distributed cognition perspective on human-technology interaction. Cognition, Technology & Work, 16(2), 187-201.

Sykes, E. R. (2011). Interruptions in the workplace: A case study to reduce their effects. International Journal of Information Management, 31(4), 385-394.

October 5, 2023 by bandy52

Fall is upon us, and if you’re like me, you’ve already started making a list of comfort foods to make this season.

Comfort food means many things to different people and looks different across the world, but one commonality is that it makes us feel good. For some people, comfort food stirs up an emotional connection about a family tradition or particular family member. The snacks or dishes we reach for may even be a way of handling stress or coping. When I think of comfort food, I think of dishes that make me feel warm, full, and fuzzy. Comfort food also has a biological connection. The food we choose triggers a complex response in our brain that triggers an emotional association to our food. Hence why we might feel more inclined to eat these memorable dishes throughout the holiday season or when thinking of a particular person, place, or time. Additionally, as the weather cools, our bodies crave more calories to help keep warm – even though we may not need them.

When we enjoy comfort food, it is usually a meal with higher fat, carbohydrate or sugar content. We tend to think of these meals as indulgences, or something unhealthy to savor. However, there are many ways to experience our favorite comfort flavors. Here are some easy, healthy substitutes to make even the best comfort foods a little lighter and healthier.

1. Plain Greek Yogurt – yogurt is a good swap in many recipes as it reduces fat and adds protein and calcium. Plain Greek Yogurt can be used in place of butter, milk, sour cream, mayo, cream cheese, buttermilk, and heavy cream. You can find an easy conversion chart by clicking here.
2. Applesauce- In most baked goods you can use applesauce in place of butter and oil. My family’s favorite banana bread uses applesauce.
3. Cauliflower- This vegetable has made a come back in the recent years! You can use cauliflower in pizza crust, breadsticks, riced, or mashed. In my house we enjoy cauliflower as a substitute in Shepard’s pie instead of mashed potatoes.
4. Lean Protein- Replacing high-fat meats such as sausage with lean proteins like turkey help to reduce the fat content of a meal. This is especially useful in recipes that use heavy creams, cheeses, and butter. In some recipes it is easier to replace the protein then the cheese.
5. Extra veggies- If a comfort go to this season is pizza, chili, or mac and cheese, focus on adding more veggies. You can add veggies in place of some or all of the meat. Vegetables are full of nutrients like fiber and low in saturated fat and calories. Adding more vegetables to your dishes will reduce their fat, salt and calorie content.
6. Beans and legumes- Bring on the beans! Beans are making a comeback as a great source of protein and fiber! Consider trying a chickpea pizza crust, noodle, or dessert. Swapping out a traditional noodle will not only add protein to your spaghetti, but can help offset the carb crash afterwards. Beans are also a great substitute in baking! My family loves to enjoy black bean brownies.

There are so many ways to enjoy comfort food this season. If you are hesitant to experiment with new ingredients, a simple way to keep things healthier is by watching portion sizes. Trying to measure portions for casseroles can be challenging, but using a smaller plate such as salad plate can be helpful.

Allow yourself to explore some of these swaps, try new recipes, or experiment with family favorites. By adding healthier ingredients, we are giving our bodies more of the nutrients it needs to stay healthy all year long! Who knows, maybe you’ll create a new recipe for friends and family to enjoy when they think of you or reach for a seasonal favorite.

Written by: Holly Bandy, MEd, CHES, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension Stark County

Reviewed by: Jenny Lobb, MPH, RDN, Family and Consumer Sciences Educator, OSU Extension Franklin County

Sources:

Harvard Health. Comfort food without the guilt. (2019). https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/comfort-food-without-the-guilt

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). Healthy eating for a healthy weight. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/healthy_eating/index.html