3 tips for relaxing more with kids in the house // Parenting
Let’s all be super honest here for a minute……
it’s not always relaxing having little ones in the house. Of course little kiddos are a huge blessing, but not all blessings are easy…. or calm……. or quiet.
Even the most relaxing of people can get more stressed with little humans running around and not listening.
So if you are a fellow Mama Bear and you are needing a little bit of advice or encouragement to get through the day…
Here are my top 3 tips to relax more with little ones in the home:
1) Breathe
It sounds so lame but breathing can do wonders! Anytime I feel like I’m at my limit I take a nice deep breath…. and if my little ones are having a rough day I get them to join in. Normally three good deep breaths are just enough to cool down and relax just a little.
2) Schedule alone time
When my oldest one was done with naps it was a very, very sad day. I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do…. here I was about to have our second baby and my oldest one is now not wanting to nap during the day. I knew that I would need some time during the day to just chill even for a few moments so I had to think of something. So scheduled alone time it was! Listen…. kids need some time to themselves just as much as we do…. so let them have alone time. In our house, alone time or “quiet time” (as we call it) is scheduled around our youngest's second nap time. This gives my oldest some quiet time to play alone in her room and gives me a chance to chill, work without chaos or snack without sticky fingers grabbing at my plate.
3) Remember that they are little
Okay, this is the one I struggle with most. Kids are smart (and no I’m not meaning that in the “my kids is the smartest ever” kind of way) I mean EVERY child is smart and they understand what’s going on more than we think. I get it…..your three year old is starting to have sassy moments and all of the sudden you’re left wondering “what happen to my precious little baby?!” But they are still little. Yes they may understand more of what’s going on around them, yes they can communicate better and yes their personality is coming out more….. but with all of these developmental changes happening to them they don’t fully understand a major part of what comes out through their behavior…….. and that’s emotions! Kids are emotional beings to the core…. they feel them but they aren’t quite sure what to do with them and what is the appropriate way to express them. But please, please do humanity a favor and teach them what’s acceptable… all you have to do is hop on social media or turn on the news to see a bunch of “adults” that apparently were never taught how to handle their emotions.
So if you are finding it hard to relax.....I feel you…….parenting is tough stuff. It can push your patience to the limit, but you are not alone. There are plenty of other mama bears that are going through these tough and wonderful times right with you. It truly takes a tribe, so lean on your tribe!
We set the tone for the rest of the house….the more you can relax and enjoy, the better the whole house will feel.
