Navigate the pandemic with resilience to manage your mental, physical and emotional health as well as your children’s educational needs and overall well-being.
Behind the closed doors of many households across the country during this pandemic are scenes that look almost as if they came out of movies. With preschool and workplace closures in place, parents have to juggle between working from home, handling their children and managing their household’s needs. Children are being forced to engage with a screen, thus restraining their natural curiosity that otherwise would be fostered in a child-centred learning environment (preschool).
Amidst these formidable challenges are opportunities for parents and children to come out stronger than before. But parents themselves need to be adaptable, agile, and resilient before their children can inherit these traits.
This article aims to achieve this goal; it is in having stronger mental, physical and emotional health and in building resilience. Read on to find out some practical tips you, as parents, can do to manoeuvre the pandemic with success.
Thrive Under Pressure
The success of remote learning lies mainly on parents who assume the role of a teacher at home. They are now much more involved in their children’s learning journey than ever before. This could easily throw some parents off their balance, but the secret to gaining control of things is by breaking solutions down into sizeable, manageable parts.
Plan ahead
Good planning can relieve stress for both children and parents. So, plan your work schedule and your child’s online learning schedule. You can help your child develop their weekly plan, complete with goals and deadlines to keep them on track. This also helps your child learn how to prioritize and reduce distractions during lessons.
Over time, you can observe what works and what does not to outline and reinforce certain boundaries. Balance it out by offering incentives when boundaries are respected to exercise positive discipline. Building a reward system can help maintain motivation.
Get enough rest
Mental, physical and emotional health comes in one package for a reason. Never attempt to deprive any of the three as it will affect your overall well-being. Ensure that you get enough proper nutrition, ample sleep, hydration, and regular exercise. As your child now spends more time in front of a screen attending virtual classes and doing homework online, you can impose ‘no screen’ breaks to reduce the risk of cognitive impairment.
Practise mindfulness so that you will be aware when you are overcome with emotions like stress and anxiety. Encourage your child to do the same and be transparent with what they are feeling so that you know when to immediately seek professional help.
Build relationships
Humans are social creatures. Yet the COVID-19 is actively advocating for physical and social isolation. Prolonged separation can make us feel anxious and depressed. However, looking at how we could easily pivot to digital tools in keeping our work life and our children’s learning in check, it is no surprise we could the same when it comes to keeping in touch with one another.
Communicate despite the physical absence of friends and colleagues. You can also look for communities made up of people who are empathic, trustworthy, and compassionate and join a virtual group that shares the same interests or beliefs. While doing all of this, don’t forget to include your child too as they need social stimuli at a young age for proper holistic development. Other than that, you can also give back to the environment and the community by participating in your preschool’s virtual events that promote good values.
Stay positive
The future will not appear bleak as long as you maintain a hopeful outlook. In other words, visualize what you want to achieve rather than worrying about your fears and anxieties. Encourage your child to do the same while at the same time letting them know that it is okay to not be okay and that you will be there for them whenever they need you.
Some activities you can do with your child listed by Big Life Journal include:
- Meditate
- Help others
- Cherish every moment
- Work towards achieving goals
- Love thyself
In our upcoming FREE webinar, Dr Gerard Louis from HELP University will discuss ways to build mental resilience for parents during these trying times. Learn ways to cope as an adult and a parent during this pandemic and get answers to your current situations.
Join us LIVE on our Facebook on July 10, 2021 at 11 a.m. by clicking this link:
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialQdeesWorldwideEdusystems/live_videos/
I love what you said about how parenting is stressful and managing your kid’s preschool needs is hard work. I need to get a daycare center for my 2 sons. I just need them there while I am at work.