It’s been rough at the house. The kids are crazy. You’ve got this conflict that you keep going round and round with your spouse about. Everyone’s grouchy. The siblings keep fighting. You’re trying to figure out how to get through to your teenager. You’re trying to get your newborn to sleep. You’ve got this frustration, this anger, this anxiety that won’t go away.

What do you do about it?

You go for a walk.

There is an old Latin expression. Solvitur ambulando. It is solved by walking.

Walks are parenting magic. It calms them down. It calms you down. It gets them off screens. It gets you off your screen. Seneca said that the mind must be given over to wandering walks, and so too must you and your kids.

Get outside. Get moving. Go for a hike. Walk down to the mail box. Take a few laps around the block. Watch as ideas fly into your head. Watch your teenager suddenly broach the topic you’ve both been avoiding. Watch your toddler nod off in the stroller. Feel the stress and anxiety evaporate—or at least, simmer down.

It won’t solve everything forever…but it will make things a little better, for a little while. And when it wears off? Take another walk.