Helping Your Children Face Life’s Pressures With Self Care Strategies
by Thomas Walker
Life can be difficult for both adults and children, with pressures to be faced and obstacles to be surmounted at almost every stage of life. As a parent, one of your chief jobs should be to equip your kids to handle these pressures and challenges. By modeling self-care and teaching your children to prioritize their well-being, you set them up to thrive and enjoy life despite the challenges they may face.
Model Healthy Behaviors
Children learn a great deal from watching what you do and how you approach life. If you take the time to slow down and prioritize self-care, your kids are likely to do the same.
Likewise, if you allow work and other obligations to dominate your life and overwhelm you, your children will likely pick up on your feelings of stress. To counter this adverse effect, make a point of modeling the correct behaviors:
- Find a healthy balance between work and family
- Maintain a consistent sleep schedule
- Fuel your body with nutritious foods
- Exercise regularly
- Carve out time to relax
- Speak to, and treat, yourself graciously
Create a Peaceful Oasis
Show your children how to care for a home by creating a healthy and nurturing environment. Help your kids learn the importance of eating a nutritious diet and drinking plenty of water. Invite more natural sunlight into your home along with some indoor plants. You can even create a meditation space.
A cluttered house brimming with too many possessions can make you feel stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, and ashamed. Experts contend that when you purge your home of unneeded possessions, the tidier environment boosts positive feelings, such as peace, control, and happiness.
Luckily, popular decluttering methods like the KonMari Method or the 30-Day Minimalism Game can guide you through the process. You sort through your possessions and determine whether each item should be kept, discarded, or donated to charity.
After decluttering, take steps to improve the atmosphere of your home:
- Integrate creative storage options to keep your home organized
- Use live houseplants to reduce stress and aid in relaxation
- Use mirrors to make the room feel brighter and more spacious
- Remove heavy curtains and open the windows to let in fresh air and sunshine
- Diffuse essential oils to create a peaceful, relaxing oasis
You should also exercise care in what home products you purchase and use. When shopping online, read product reviews from users and expert testimonials if you find them. You want to have confidence in the products you buy, and reviews can help you make good purchasing decisions.
Encourage Traditional Games
Many of today’s kids are caught up in the digital world of social media, streaming platforms, and video games. Unfortunately, being glued to devices all day can be harmful because it reduces physical activity and, in turn, can cause weight gain, sleep problems, back pain and mental health issues.
Aim to reduce your child’s dependence on video games and personal devices by implementing time limits and encouraging tech-free activities. For example, children can benefit greatly from traditional games and toys. They can have fun, learn important skills, and enjoy building interpersonal relationships.
Develop Healthy Habits
Building healthy habits is a great way to automate self-care. For example, if you feed your children nutritious foods and ensure they get enough sleep each night, your kids are more likely to carry those behaviors into the future.
Similarly, help your kids establish routines that can nurture their mental health:
- Have them listen to guided meditations
- Encourage deep breathing in response to feelings of anger or stress
- Establish a regular time for practicing gratitude
Today’s children face busy schedules and mounting pressures that will likely follow them throughout life. By encouraging, teaching, and modeling self-care, you can arm your child with the skills needed to slow down and prioritize what’s important.
