Raising children is a full-time commitment but there are those moments when parents can break away to take a breath and focus on themselves and their mental wellbeing.
On the P-Word this week, host Rushka-Lee Pedro shares some tips on how parents can take a break and practice self-care.
At the end of the day, parents want what’s best for their children and sometimes taking a break can be the most selfless, responsible thing to do for the family’s wellbeing.
“There is a whole different kind of stress when it comes to parenting. It’s the household, the kids, the money, the school, the school fees, the school shoes, and so on. It’s a lot to manage on a daily basis. And that’s just your surrounding areas. That’s not even to do with you and your mental health, your job, your work, you’re the extent of how many ways you can be pulled,” said Pedro.
A little bit of introspection goes a long way, she said, and taking a break is a good way to gather your thoughts.
Understand your situation
Pedro says a method that has helped her in her parenting journey is to take cognizance of your situation and if you can’t visualise it in your head, write it down on a piece of paper.
“One of the best ways that I found is to use a Spider diagram where you put you as the subject in the centre of the page and you and you write the lines across to a different thought bubble.
“You put in the money, you put in the job, you put in the finances, you put in the relationship, you put in the core issues and then you break it down. All your worries in one place where there’s a tangible visual interpretation of what it is and what you can do about it.
Shake it off
Parents sometimes just need to channel their inner Taylor Swift and “Shake it off”. Pedro suggests doing an activity that makes you happy, that makes you feel like you are taking a break and doing what you enjoy.
“You can take a walk, getting your body active is probably the best thing for your brain and your mental state. Whatever you need to do, go to the gym, punch the boxing punching bag, do some painting, take a drive, sing, watch your movie, listen to your favourite music.