Parents have a lot of demands on their time, energy, and attention. Unfortunately, this means that parents’ own needs are often neglected. When parents stop caring for themselves, stress can take over resulting in potentially negative repercussions on parents’ health and relationships with children (and partners).
Beating stress and caring for your self may feel like just another thing on a mile-long “to-do” list, but it doesn’t have to be a big time commitment. And self-care should not be negotiable! Start by adding 5 minutes of self-care to your day and build up to where you feel less stressed and more balanced.
Self-care typically falls into three categories: care for your body, care for your mind, and care for your emotions and relationships. Self-care can be relatively simple like getting enough sleep or taking time to cuddle a pet or hug a loved one. Here are 50 ideas (many from our informal survey of parents) of how you can incorporate self-care into your life.
