How to take care of your emotional well-being while raising your child

The process of raising and educating children is a set of activities that demand a lot from us both physically and psychologically; However, that does not mean that as parents we should limit ourselves to yielding all our well-being to the achievement of those kinds of goals.

Taking care of ourselves is still essential, and it will also allow us to give the little ones all the support and protection they need. during childhood and adolescence.

• Related article: "The 6 stages of childhood (physical and mental development)"

How to enhance our psychological well-being as parents with children?

Follow these tips and guidelines to prevent situations in which raising the youngest members of the household ends up wearing down your emotional well-being.

1. Apply fixed and clear rules of coexistence

Establish clear “rules of the game” regarding what can and cannot be done at home, and the responsibilities of each one, It is key to not favor a chaotic environment at home, which exposes us more to stress and frustration

. This includes adults and children as well, although for the latter it is necessary that the rules be few and very simple, according to their capacity for abstract thinking.

Thus, the rules that young children must follow must be very clear and refer to easily recognizable situations and activities. And of course, you have to lead by example: showing that everyone complies with those rules is more effective than just repeating over and over again what those rules consist of.

2. Delegate tasks

Get the little ones involved in household chores (as far as their abilities and leisure time needs allow) is the best way to make them respect those rules. This will not only save the elderly some of the work; in addition, it is good for their development.

If they are very young and still cannot contribute in a meaningful way with housework, encourage them to participate in a symbolic way, starting with their own self-care: taking steps to play at home safely and without exposing themselves to risks, following certain guidelines to make less mess, etc.

3. Make sure you have quality time for your partner

If you have a partner, It is important that you take measures to avoid that parenting occupies absolutely all of your time to the point that you cannot dedicate hours a week to maintaining the emotional bond between the two of you. For this, it is advisable to design a schedule and adopt a global vision of the time you have throughout the week; that way it will be easy to make the necessary reorganizations to optimize the use that you give to those hours.

4. Reserve some time for yourself

In the same way that the relationship deserves to have its moments and its places of intimacy, you should also be able to count on moments for yourself. Remember that it is not simply about feeling good "disconnecting" from the world of tasks to be done, but it is something necessary to maintain your psychological well-being, something that will have a positive impact on the way you raise and educate your children.

5. Apply relaxation techniques in your day to day

These techniques are varied but for the most part they are simple and easy to apply at home, without the need to buy expensive materials.

Some of them focus on controlled breathing using the diaphragm, and others focus more on activating and relaxing muscle groups in the body. For example, you can start by trying a technique called Jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation. You can dedicate the last part of the day to this type of exercise, because in this way you will also be preventing problems when falling asleep.

6. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a useful tool to prevent recurring painful emotions in contexts of certain stress, among other things because it helps to leave behind psychological rumination and the thoughts that generate anxiety.

• You may be interested in: "What is Mindfulness? The 7 answers to your questions "

7. Practice exercise

Leaving the domestic context for something other than work is especially necessary in the case of parents with young children. The ideal is to opt for aerobic exercise, ideally in environments surrounded by nature, to disconnect and breathe fresh air (which, by the way, also has psychologically beneficial effects in terms of mental alertness, according to various investigations).