Parenting in a Pandemic whilst looking after your own wellbeing.

At the end of 2020 I was listening to people muttering how they couldn’t wait for the new year to come, like this was an anchor of change, the pessimist in me though wondered how at the stroke of midnight and 2021 became our now; how things would be any different?

Parenting in a pandemic became more challenging as we entered another national lockdown with a few extra layers of discomfort such as colder wetter weather adding extra work to go out then there’s homeschooling and juggling work and families as well as shorter days. A stark difference to the summer lockdown we experienced.

What this does is highlight how important it is for us to look after our emotional wellbeing.

To influence positivity in the home means finding it first ourselves.

So how can we find and maintain positivity in this extended and edgeless time of uncertainty?

1. Bringing us together has a foundational principles that we are stronger together. Use our members lounge on Facebook to reach out, ask questions, get it off your chest. Or wherever you have people who can listen. We will move through this stronger as joined up communities.
2. Routines. This can be difficult when there is so much to juggle but routines do give us edges and removes the constant need to think about the next thing and the next thing. It reserves mind focused energy so that we can direct that to more useful areas.
3. Nurture sleep. This I know can feel like an elusive place only few mortals may inhabit but sleep is vital to our physical and emotional health. A lack of sleep will affect thoughts, emotions, feelings and then our behaviour. Sometimes just small tweaks are needed to our habits to make some positive changes, review your sleeping patterns and see where changes can be made.
4. Be aware of what influences you have around you. How much time are you spending on social media? What type of energy fills your thread? Are you someone who is supporting everyone? Where is your balance? Now maybe a good time for a review and clean up of those negative influences.
5. Gut health. Emotional and mental health has extremely strong links to our gut health. A good balanced diet, hydration and if you need extra a good supplement. All of the systems in your body work together as a team to keep that wonderful you strong, keep nutritionally resourced. Gut Health
6. If you can get outside then that breaking state and fresh air can make a massive difference to mood. That shaking off the cobwebs is a good feeling and works well for us.

You are important too

As parents and partners we give so much at home then we give to friends and colleagues because that’s often who we are. We can sometimes miss those little red flag signs that we are tiring and becoming drained. The more drained we become the more stress fractures can creep in. We can easily over look these and dismiss them or minimise them until it all feels too much and we can start to struggle.

Take care of you so that you can create a healthier connection of positive feelings and therefore feel much more supported to keep parenting in a pandemic.

Need some support on tips around homeschooling? Read our guest blog by Jenny, her simple guide is really valuable. Click to read blog.

From the BuT team x