As wonderful as it is being a parent, attending to our children at the various ages and stages of their development, can feel relentless and highly demanding. It is ok to want some time apart. Self-care is crucial as a parent.
If we don’t look after ourselves when caring for others, then slowly but surely we erode the very bonds of affection that we consider to be so precious to us. When we start to experience exhaustion, we stop being able to empathise and extend care and compassion to our children.
According to a recent study by Ohio State University, 2 in 3 working parents feel burned out.
Perhaps you are noticing that you are slipping into the conditioned behaviours learned from the less desirable parenting styles of your own parents, saying things you vowed you would never say and acting in ways that you thought you never would?
Or
Feeling emotionally distanced from your children?
Or
Have a sense of ineffectiveness and uncertainty about what to do next?
Be kind to yourself. Things can and will feel better as soon as you start taking better care of yourself. Remind yourself that you need to look after you, to be able to look after others too.
Top tips to get yourself back:
1. Short cut whatever you can for a few weeks to help take the pressure of by lowering the bar on everything needing to be done all of the time.
2. Focus on taking care of the priority tasks only in order to carve out some time to rest and recharge.
3. Get as much sleep as possible, even if this means going to bed when your kids go to bed to help you fully function again.