Parenting During Coronavirus Season
The uncertainty over the last couple of days has left many families feeling stressed and uncomfortable due to the unexpected emergence of coronavirus as it unfolds. Events are being cancelled, spring break plans are shattered. "Wash your hands" becomes a daily rhythm, hand sanitizer and toilet tissues turned to gold.
During this challenging time, I hope you'll find time to take care of yourself and your family. I hope you can still enjoy the best of times with things available around you to bring out the best in you and your family.
We’ve pulled together some tips to help support you with parenting during these challenging and unsettling times; whilst creating happy memories together.
Manage yourself well: Children notice our anxiety as parent’s, so it is important to manage your feelings first. Take deep breaths, go for walks - long or short it all adds up, or do whatever you need to do to bring your stress levels and subsequently anxiety levels down.
Create family bonding time: There are many ways of creating family bonding moments, one being conducting family devotion, praying and studying the bible together. After-all, it is said a family that prays together stays together! In your daily devotion, ask God for wisdom, patience, protection and direction amongst other things. Involve the children as much as you can and allow them to have an input into what activities they will observing for the day with the right guidance from parents.
Engage in Indoor activities: There are different ways of engaging the children and keeping them active whilst indoors; such as dancing or home PE with Joe Wicks on Youtube, mind-stimulating games like hide - and- seek, quiz, monopoly etc. If you have enough space in your back garden, encourage them to run, jump, skip and bounce on the trampoline (If available). Participating in these activities as an adult helps keep the children focused and boost their motivation to engage further. Please, do not just ask them to do it, do it with them.
Sustain healthy habits. Aside from the basics of washing hands and covering coughs, consider using this opportunity to overhaul your health habits as a family. There are differing resources available online each with its own wellness approach; conduct some research and apply the most appropriate one for your family whilst also getting some tips on eating well, exercising, and even managing the stress of an illness. These wellness websites can be great resources for children and teens who are curious about diseases and relationships. Plenty of conversation starters!
Laugh together. If you are feeling frazzled; the best medicine is a cosy night on the couch with family and giant laughs. Also, turn off the news, silence your notifications, and get your children to do the same. You can involve your children to take turns in choosing which film to watch and share the lessons learnt. Whether you prefer classic comedies or fresher fare, these funny movies will force everyone to forget their worries for a while.
If you are still unsure or require help or advise on how to navigate these trying times, please feel free to reach out to us on email: pastor@rccglifeoasis.org or by calling 0208 573 3522.
