What things do you or your children enjoy doing most? Once you’ve done them, you feel recharged, refreshed and ready to get on to the next thing.
The beginning of the year can often stretch us as we hop back into the full routines of school terms that include school, work, sport, play dates, weekend activities and commitments. Children and adults alike can find the change of pace challenging. There is likely to be not as much free time for choosing what one wants to do as well as demands of life from signing notes to packing lunches to the restarting of the family ‘taxi’ business to get everyone where they need to be at any given time. Parents in particular can feel the pressure of needing to get everything organised for everyone - or at a minimum, supervising that process as you teach your children steps of independence.
It can be easy to get to the end of a day feeling drained.
Something I have been working on in the face of the change back into routine is a practice of self-care. It is something that easily goes out the window at busy times - for both children and adults. At times we believe that we need to have a lot of time to engage in self-care - a day at the spa or a day of golf to be a bit cliche - but often the reality is that more than setting aside a large amount of time to engage, we need to find some small things that we can come to in our day to top up so that we can keep going.
I wonder what little things recharge you. I wonder what little things recharge your children.
As we settle into the pace of the term, I encourage you to find some little things you can do to look after yourself so you can continue looking after others well. As you think about it, consider the various part of life (Physical, Emotional, Mental, Social and Spiritual) and see if you can find something in each one that helps you recharge. You don’t need to do them all at once, but if you choose one each day you’ll be well on your way to keeping your cup topped up. I encourage you to start a conversation with your children too about these things. What are the things that recharge them? (If the default is ‘screen time’, help them to consider and try out other activities.)
A few ideas to get you started might be: making a cuppa to sit down and enjoy (rather than drinking it on the run), practicing slow breathing for a few minutes, reading a book, playing a game, meditation or a spiritual reading/devotion, catching up with a friend, a walk on the beach or frolic in the ocean, watching your favourite show/movie, or putting on your favourite candle or essential oil diffuser. Your list might be very different to mine, but finding ways to learn to practice self-care and fill your cup (and teaching your children this skill) will only benefit you and your family. Have a great week and look after yourself!
