Stress is commonplace among new parents who find themselves with an overbearing responsibility to look after their children. This has a serious impact on their mental health as it can become overwhelming to provide for people other than yourself, especially when you bring them into the world. It can lead to feeling old at a relatively young age and a chance of facing a personal crisis before their peers without children have their own.
Self-love is a growing movement that acknowledges the need to rest and reset. The goal is to soften the impact of burnout or to avoid it entirely by applying wholesome behaviors in your day-to-day routine. It is a coping mechanism in an increasingly overwhelming world where social media has brought on a new set of problems, such as living up to a picture-perfect life.
Parents are allowed to take a breather and have a moment for themselves. It might even give them the time to think about their relationship with their kids and how to best go about parenthood.
If you constantly had to make choices for other human beings, it would be better to have a clear, open mind regarding the personal obstacles they face. You might have noticed that it is difficult to be nice when you are pushed against the wall by demands from external forces in your life. It only makes sense to pause, take a breath, and tackle the challenges one at a time.
Make the Time
You need to give yourself a break from the stressors you face. You can altogether avoid some, such as interactions with strangers you disagree with or feel uncomfortable around. Meanwhile, there are some that you have to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Screaming kids can be an earful, making it difficult to think clearly about how you ought to go about your day.
Instead of getting upset and taking it out on yourself or your children, you can send them off with a facility with child care services that can look after them while you gather your thoughts. The advantage here is that you will get the breather you deserve, and the kids can have all the attention they are looking for. They might even learn something new through their interactions with other human beings, allowing them to develop social skills.
No matter how busy you may seem, you have to take the time to relax. It does not have to be a full spa day or a vacation abroad. Sometimes all you need is some peace and possibly a room to yourself to unwind.
Remind Yourself that You Deserve Self-love
Positive affirmations may seem odd at first. After all, there is a stigma against talking to yourself, with some backward thinking believing that you might be mad. But it is necessary to reinforce the idea that you are worthy of being taken care of. Since self-love was not an everyday activity with the generation that birthed yours, there is a chance that you might have trauma from your childhood.
One way to combat the negative thoughts that this produces is by reminding yourself that you are worthy of self-love and that you matter. Your opinions have a place in the world and so do your need for relaxation. Even though you are looking after another human being, you should not leave yourself behind. You can co-exist with them while valuing yourself as an individual.
Be Consistent
Rest is never a reward- it is necessary to recharge for the upcoming tasks in your day. If you postpone a day of relaxation that you badly need, you might end up regretting it once you burn yourself out. Be consistent in pausing to regroup your thoughts and regain some energy.
You can try using the Pomodoro technique, where you do an activity for a period and follow it with a short break. Then you repeat until you are done with your responsibilities for the day. Although this might be challenging for parents (as parenting is a full-time responsibility), it can be a technique used to deal with chores or work if they telecommute from home.
Self-love may be relatively recent for the previous generation, but to the children of today, it is embedded in the only culture they are aware of. Allowing yourself the rest you ought to have can make you a better parent in the long run by building a stronger bond between you and your kids through open-mindedness, clearer thinking, and positivity.
