

We are becoming more and more aware of the strains that stress can play on our children’s mental health. We need to get in there at an early age to give them the tools that they can use to manage these stresses. There are some things that we can help protect children from (eg. not giving them devices too young/parental controls on devices) and then there are many things we can not-life in general!
Therefore we need to foster the skills of resilience, problem solving, critical thinking and stress management so that they have a toolkit ready for when life throws stuff their way.
So how can you help?
-ask open ended questions to encourage open dialogue
-practice being non judgemental-the less judgemental you are, the more they’ll open up
-show them that you’re not perfect and that you don’t have it all figured out. Speaking about (appropriate) problems that won’t be scary for them shows them that you are human too and so they don’t grow up feeling like their parents always had everything figured out or think they need to be perfect like you
-be vulnerable in front of them: if they never see that they won’t think it’s ok for them to be it either
-encourage any creative/musical or sporting activities that they show an interest in, but don’t push.
-model / set healthy behaviours/boundaries when it comes to devices
-get out in nature
-get the whole family taking part in mindfulness techniques-doesn’t have to be a big thing, just little and often will model the tools to them (guided meditations/mindfulness colouring in books/yoga etc)
-animal therapy (!) pets are great de-stressers for kids
-if you’re trying to get your child into a secondary school where they have to take exams and interviews, tread carefully. I know you want the best for them and that includes sending them to a good school, but I’ve seen first hand how much stress children take on board when trying to pass entrance exams
I will do a separate post on a set of skills that can help early and be used throughout life ❤️