Today’s children often participate in many extracurricular activities and may feel stressed or exhausted. Like adults, children can become overextended by the demands placed on them when their obligations are not well-balanced. It’s critical that parents both model and teach behaviors to their children that promote well-being and self-care. In a world of constant motion, it is essential to keep yourself and your kids refreshed enough to avoid burnout.
There are lots of ideas about how to approach self-care, but here are five tips from Smart Kidzs on how to model self-care to your little ones.
1. Model a Self-Care Routine
Experiments show that children learn by observing others, so practicing self-care regularly will help them incorporate it into their routines as they grow up. Seeing parents take the time to prepare healthy meals, exercise, and carve out time for stress-reducing activities lets kids see these habits as normal.
Another way to reduce stress on your family is by setting rules and boundaries for your young ones to help them naturally form them with others. Creating consistent expectations provides reliability and comfort. One way to establish rules is by creating clear limits on your work from home schedule. Begin and end each workday at the same time, and ask your family to respect your work hours. Then you can create a routine to end each day with brushing teeth and connecting at bedtime.
2. Create a Healthy Outdoor Space
Having a safe and healthy outdoor area for your kids to run and play in gives them a chance to use their imaginations uninhibited while also exercising their bodies. Before you can allow those kiddos out to play without worrying, the yard must be ready for fun. Professional lawn aeration services help you keep your lawn healthy by inserting essential ingredients into the soil. These companies often also offer weed control, fertilizing, and dethatching services. As you search for the right business to help you with your lawn, ensure they are properly licensed and insured and can provide referrals.
3. Make Time for Relaxation
Show your children that it is okay and even beneficial to take time to unwind. Let your kids see you with downtime, not just constantly rushing from one chore or activity to the next. Not only does rest feel good, it’s also necessary for us to function properly and at our best.
Read books, do a crossword puzzle, or just veg out on the couch on a regular basis. Transform your home into a space conducive to relaxation by decluttering, organizing, and adding some indoor plants. Rest recharges the body and mind and is essential to good mental health. Though young families are often busy, downtime is important to maintain the energy required to keep up with your fast-paced lifestyle.
4. Spend Quality Family Time Together
Spending quality time together promotes strong bonds within the family. There are many activities you can do as a group that strengthen ties to one another and leave you feeling rejuvenated. You do not need to break the bank to enjoy time as a family that leaves you feeling less stressed and connected to one another. Focus on activities that involve everyone’s interests, or practice different activities selected by each family member. Ideas include going on walks or hikes, seeing a movie, playing board games, and even going to a park.
5. Show Gratitude
Whether you believe in a higher power or not, showing gratitude is a wonderful way to remain grounded in your life and feel blessed for what you have. Some people like to keep gratitude journals in which they write down one thing they are grateful for each day, while others pray. Encourage your children to name one item or person they are thankful for daily. This will also help them not to take their family or possessions for granted.
It is easy to become exhausted and stressed when you are constantly in motion, and the same is true for your children. Show your children how to live life feeling refreshed by incorporating self-care and downtime into your routine. Both you and your kids will be healthier and happier for it.
About Author: Through the website Learn a Living, retired community college teacher Virginia Cooper hopes to encourage adults to plan, pay for, continue, and finish their educations. Learn a Living is filled with resources that can help everyone balance going back to school.
