Self Care and Parenting

As I sit here, thinking about being a mom to a 12 year old, I reflect on how I can continue to allow him to grow. There is a lot of talk on social media about #parentingishard or #isitwineoclock but is this what we want to teach our children? I think if we are to continue to focus on it being too hard, then it will in fact, be too hard. I would like to be able to say that it is all roses and rainbows, but we know that isn’t a reality either. What I am proposing is a change in language. I am aiming for openness and transparency with our kids, while also teaching them to respect ourselves. So maybe this means that we tell our kids that we do need a break, but we show them what this looks like by taking care of ourselves. When we look at what self care looks like, do we look at alcohol, binge eating, or other self destructive behaviours? Or do we look at therapy, exercise, a cup of tea, and meditation. How do we create resilient children when all we do is complain out loud to them and ultimately show them that we cope in negative ways? With all that being said, this is not to negate post-partum depression, baby blues, delivery trauma, anxiety, or any other struggle with mental health. These things are real! I am hoping though, that by changing our language, we can start to work on these things too. By reaching out in a safe way. If every single parent talked about and posted about the positive things, then we would truly know to reach out to someone who posts or talks about one of their struggles. Let’s be real, how many times have we seen someone say online that it’s been a hard day and that they are looking forward to « wine o’clock » and how many times do we dismiss this because everyone says this and we think it’s funny. Self care, self love, and self worth are hard to attain when we don’t have the support of the people around us. We need to start changing the status quo and figuring out how we can truly support one another and our children.

After all, this is AboutU.

Writer: Victoria Champion, CEO