Parenting During The Pandemic
Parenting during the coronavirus outbreak has been challenging for many families.
Every parent was once a teen but it can be easy to forget how challenging those years can be! Their world can be filled with negative unspoken truths and complex relationships with friends, peers and others.
Many of us are juggling working from home and caring for our families, whether that be the early years and or teenagers, maybe you also have caring responsibilities for other family members. In addition to homeschooling and managing the grocery shopping and for some, our four-legged family members.
I know how busy family life can be before the pandemic, whether it be navigating this journey alone or co-parenting. Whatever your individual circumstances, this time may be tough on our mental health. It is key to remember our mental health is just as important as our physical health.
It is a different time for us all, I know now, more than ever, we are doing the best we can, with what we have. It is important to spend some quality time with our tweens and teens despite the barriers that can make it challenging. Make time for reconnection, learn new things, and just be together as a family.
Did you know that giving your tween and teens regular daily doses of positive attention will help maintain a healthy connection, reduce the outbursts, and set them up for success later in life?
Here are some ideas to spend time with your tweens and teens – Make it fun and positive!
1. Go for daily walks together
2. Do a fitness activity together
3. Be present with your teen’s activities, read together, make funny videos together, try learning to play on their gaming console (trust me they find this hilarious!)
4. Plan a weekly menu and make dinner together
5. Think about relaxing screen time (temporarily), for some children, this is their way of staying connected with their friends and family. As with any screen time, keep the communication open as it’s good to know what our children are doing and watching online.
It’s also important we find time for ourselves, our time – It’s so important to find time for you!
Be kind to yourself, it’s easy to judge ourselves as parents based on what we see other people doing on social media. I know we are giving our best to our families and hopefully, there’s enough left for you.