How to take care of your emotional well-being while raising your child.
Tips to enhance emotional well-being in adults in charge of children and adolescents.
The process of raising and educating children is a set of activities that demand a lot from us both physically and psychologically; however, that does not mean that as parents we should limit ourselves to surrendering all our well-being to the achievement of these kinds of goals.
Taking care of ourselves is still fundamental, and it will also allow us to give our children all the support and protection they need during childhood and adolescence. during childhood and adolescence.
How to boost our psychological well-being as parents with children?
Follow these tips and guidelines to prevent situations in which the upbringing of the youngest in the house ends up wearing down your emotional well-being.
1. Apply fixed and clear rules of coexistence.
Establishing clear "rules of the game" as to what can and cannot be done at home, and the responsibilities of each one, is key to avoid a chaotic environment at home, which exposes us to stress and frustration.. This includes both adults and children, although for the latter it is necessary that the rules are few and very simple, according to their capacity for abstract thinking.
Thus, the rules to be followed by young children should be very clear and refer to situations and activities that are easy to recognize. And of course, we must lead by example: showing that everyone complies with these rules is more effective than just repeating over and over again what the rules consist of.
2. Delegate tasks
Getting children involved in household chores (to the extent that their abilities and leisure time needs allow) is the best way to get them to respect these rules. is the best way to get them to respect these rules.. This will not only save the grown-ups some of the work; it is also good for their development.
If they are very young and cannot yet collaborate in a meaningful way by doing household chores, encourage them to participate in a symbolic way starting with their own self-care: adopting measures to play at home safely and without exposing themselves to risks, following certain guidelines to make less mess, etc.
3. Make sure you have quality time for your partner.
If you have a partner it is important that you take steps to prevent parenting from taking up so much of your time that you can't afford to spend time with your partner to the point that you cannot dedicate weekly hours to maintaining the emotional bond between you both. To do this, it is advisable to design a timetable and adopt a global vision of the time you have available throughout the week; in this way it will be easy to make the necessary reorganizations to optimize the use you make of those hours.
4. Set aside time for yourself
In the same way that the couple's relationship deserves to have its moments and places of intimacy, you should also be able to have moments for yourself. Remember that it is not simply a matter of feeling good "disconnecting" from the world of tasks to be done, but it is something necessary to maintain your psychological well-being. It is necessary to maintain your psychological well-being, something that will have a positive impact on the way you raise and educate your children..
5. Apply relaxation techniques in your daily life.
These techniques are varied but most of them are simple and easy to apply at home, without the need to buy expensive materials.
Some of them focus on controlled breathing using the diaphragm, and others focus more on activation and relaxation of Muscle groups in the body. For example, you can start by trying the technique called Jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation. You can dedicate the last part of the day to this type of exercise.You can dedicate the last part of the day to this type of exercise, because in this way you will also be preventing problems when it comes to falling asleep.
6. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a useful tool to prevent the occurrence of recurrent painful emotions in contexts of stress in contexts of certain stress, among other things because it helps to leave behind the psychological rumination and thoughts that generate anxiety.
7. Practice exercise
Getting out of the domestic context for something other than work is especially necessary for parents with young children. The ideal is to opt for aerobic exercise, ideally in an environment surrounded by nature, to disconnect and breathe fresh air (which, by the way, also has beneficial effects on the body).The ideal is to opt for aerobic exercise, ideally in environments surrounded by nature, to disconnect and breathe fresh air (which, by the way, also has beneficial effects psychologically in terms of mental agility, according to several studies).
(Updated at Apr 14 / 2024)