Improve Yourself to Improve Your Parenting- Here’s How

As parents, we put all of our focus and energy into our children, and when it comes to ourselves we’re often bottom of the list. While your kids will always be your priority, it’s important not to neglect yourself in the process. Taking care of yourself can actually make you a better parent- here’s how.

Focus on your health

We all know that raising little ones is exhausting. We’re up early, we’re in bed late and we spend almost all of our day running around after them, picking up after them and taking them to the places they need to go. This is tiring enough within itself, but if you’re carrying too much extra weight and your fitness levels are poor, then every day is going to be a huge struggle. While you might not feel that you have the time or energy to exercise, if you can prioritise and push through it in the beginning, you can make things much easier for yourself in the long run. If your fitness levels are low, you’re likely to feel a big difference in as little as six workouts. Get yourself to the gym and use whatever piece of equipment you’re comfortable on which gets your heart rate up. As your fitness improves, you’ll find your daily tasks become much easier and your mood will be boosted too. Eating well is also important, the way you eat will set an example for your child. If you get into the habit of cooking healthy home cooked meals, it’s something the whole family will benefit from. If you have a lot of weight to lose, starting a plan such as the keto diet is effective. Here you reduce carbohydrates, it controls hunger pangs and gives you energy which is useful for parents. Taking supplements like Beta Hydroxybutyrate can boost your results further.

Work on being happier

Speaking of mood, working on your own mental health can most definitely make you the best parent you can be. Children will look back on their childhood and remember your sunny and cheerful disposition. That you were calm, happy and friendly- traits which they’re likely to pick up from you. It’s not to say that you need to be perfect, we’re all human and have our off days but when you’re in a good mood, life is more pleasant and so is the adventure of parenthood. Meditation and journaling are both effective methods for working through stress that you could try. Treat yourself to a massage, ask your partner to watch the kids for an hour and relax in a hot bubble bath. As parents, we don’t often get much time to ourselves so these small things feel like nice treats and can help us to feel happier and more positive. If you’re struggling with your mental health, it’s so worth speaking to your doctor. They can provide you with the right treatment so you can get back to feeling like yourself again.

Be more social

Being social enables you to keep close bonds with the people in your life, which in turn means your children have more people around them. This can help them to socialise, and can build their confidence when it comes to meeting and speaking to new people. Plus, socialising is fun and thanks to loved ones, you’ll do things and have experiences that you might never have thought to have otherwise,