Finding time for self-care is essential and directly impacts our quality of life; for many parents’ self-care is at the bottom of their list. Our top priorities are taking care of our children, driving them to school and their activities, keeping them healthy and safe, food shopping, laundry, and work. We often find our window of time for self-care has vanished.
Self-care must feed us mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually so that we can sustain our busy lifestyles.
We often fail to realize our children are watching, and we need to model and set an example for our children of the importance of taking time for ourselves. That doesn’t mean it has to be a considerable amount of time or a big gesture of self-care. I recommend starting small with daily decisions and steps toward your self-care.
We will often find what doesn’t work for us first but don’t be discouraged. This will lead you closer and closer to a healthy self-care routine that is individualized just for you.
Take time to reflect, experiment, and try different self-care modalities. Start with small steps like walking in the morning and taking 10 minutes to meditate or self-reflect.
Enjoy your favorite cup of coffee while listening to an uplifting podcast.
In time, you can figure out what self-care routines work best for you and decipher what doesn’t work by taking a personal inventory of your mood, thoughts, feelings, and activity levels.
In an ideal world, we would have the time, space, and quiet environment to decipher and develop our self-care routine. However, in many cases, that is not our reality. Make sure your self-care routine can be flexible and mobile and can be adapted to different environments and scenarios.
It is beneficial that our children can observe and acknowledge their parents’ putting self-care as a priority. Your children will learn that quiet time and reflection will teach them how to be present in the moment and learn autonomy. Children who can be comfortable being with themselves and embracing their own skin can utilize this tool as they go out into the world.
My self-care routine begins every morning with a cup of coffee with my favorite creamer. For ten minutes or so, I can watch Channel 12 News before my daughter decides she wants to watch Peppa Pig. For those ten minutes, I can wake up quietly and observe my morning.
