Family | Parenting Can Be A Strainer Like Sports Performance – These Recovery Tools Every Parent Should Remember To Avoid Overloading

Recovery has become a megatrend of well-being. But how can you recover from parenting and recharge your batteries?

Recovery emphasis in sports and working life. We already know that muscles need days off to develop. On the other hand, you also have to recover from work, ie do something completely different in your free time than during the working day. When you recover, you can move on again.

Recovery is also needed in the daily lives of families with children. If stress builds up and there are no meaningful breaks, parenting can be exhausting. The causes of the load may be due to something other than one’s own actions, but one’s own actions also matter. With more restorative things in everyday life, you can cope better with the storms of family life. These tips help prevent exhaustion and increase mental flexibility.

1. Collect moments of rest

Tired, hungry, hot, in a hurry, icy starter and where that other glove is again, argh! In the daily life of a family with children, the heart rate sometimes rises. The important thing is that it can also level off.

Adequate sleep is key to recovery. It calms the nervous system and recharges the batteries for the next day. If a child’s bad dreams gnaw at yours, can the situation be addressed? Can you alternate supervision with your spouse? Do you get childcare help?

Moments of rest during the day also relieve stress. Deep breathing works – try even in the shower. Also, try to do something every day that doesn’t require effort. Would you be able to have a cup of tea in silence, walk in the woods or listen to your favorite music on the couch?

2. Ask for help

There can be much the same thing about parenting and a stressful working life: uncertainty and constant change, a lack of encouragement and decision-making power. If one’s own resources are not enough to clear the obstacles that fall in front, parenting can begin to sink. In this case, you need to think about which things take up everyday life and how these can be changed. Should I seek outside support for a child’s sleep problems or relationship problems? Could there be more childcare help or a little shorter working hours?

Making changes may seem difficult or impossible. Gather your courage and try to keep your mind open. Talk to a friend or loved one, ask for advice from a clinic or school health care provider.

3. Do something you want every day

The needs of the child must be listened to, but if the rhythm of the junior’s day or hobby schedule dictates the course of everyday life, one may drift into the role of an assistant in one’s own life. Even as a parent, you need to make choices in your daily life that you make of your own free will. They strengthen your faith in your own abilities, making you more tolerant of challenges and failures.

Even the smallest things are enough to increase your sense of control and self-confidence. Think about what feasible size you want to do today. Maybe call a friend, go to the library instead of the playground, or have your favorite food for dinner?

4. Pay attention to success

Were you arguing with a teenager or a toddler again? Did you cook over clothes while fighting? It is worth taking lessons from failures, but if the mind only clings to them and does not see its own successes, the belief in one’s own performance begins to falter. Pay close attention to the things you did well today and where you are good as a parent. Write down or tell others. I took great care of the children’s morning activities again, good me!

5. Do something different

If everyday is a burden, we are easily protected from anything that seems cumbersome. In that case, the days take root and there is no room for invigorating things. However, even small changes help to shake up stubborn habits, and at best, everyday worries settle into a new light.

Make changes to the best of your ability. Take a different route to the park or work than usual, invest in a better breakfast even one day a week, or agree to a nice suggestion that makes you think or work hard. Meeting friends is usually always worth the effort.

6. For discomfort, of your own free will

Challenges increase, while avoiding them atrophies. However, it matters whether you become challenged or decide to challenge yourself. Experiences of success in difficult things increase your confidence in your own abilities. Challenge yourself to hone a skill unrelated to your job or parenting. Can you learn a new technique in a craft hobby or take part in a training challenge?

7. Cherish the things your mind sinks into

As the evening quiets down, it’s wonderful to pull out on the couch for a long time and relax. If you can only do it, actively do something that will immerse your mind. Talk to a friend (preferably someone other than a parent), bake, read, jog – in general, do something that will grab you from the hustle and bustle of the day.

The expert is psychologist Karri-Pekka Kauppinen

The story is published in the December 2021 issue of HS Our Family.