What the world is witnessing right now is scary. None of us ever imagined we would experience something so huge, in our lifetime. None of us ever imagined we would experience parenting through challenges, quite to this extent. I’m reaching out to all of you. If you need to chat, if you are struggling, please email or DM/PM me on social media. I will do my best to be there for you.
We are in this together and no one should feel alone during such an intense period in our lives.
Why would you need inspiration at a time like this, you ask? Life is hard right now and we are all being pushed to our limits. We all need daily reminders to guide us to a calmer way of parenting and living, respecting each other and finding ways to have unconditional love for our children, our homes, and ourselves.
My Gentle Parenting Suggestions For Helping Your Children Through Covid-19:
- – Be there for them. Be present for their questions, their confusion, their worries, their emotional roller-coasters.
- – Prioritise emotional well-being for your children and YOU. The rest will sort itself out.
- – Help them feel safe. We are not locked in our homes, we are safe in our homes. We are not isolated, we are safe together.
- – Try not to expose them to the news too often (or at all), they take in more than we realize, but can’t process things like we can. (Heck, even we have trouble processing all this!)
- – Let them be children. Let them play... LOTS. Play calms, it rejuvenates, it heals, it connects us, it helps our children to learn. I can’t emphasize how important free-play is in their lives, especially now.
- – Don’t stress about changes to routine or lifestyle, these are out of our control right now. You are not creating issues down the track, you are managing as best you can, right now. Expect way more screen time and late nights… hopefully sleep-ins too! It won’t matter in the long-term. What matters most is their (and our) emotional well-being.
- – Your children can continue to learn, without school. Let them ease into these changes first. Deschooling may take one week or one month. Offer opportunities to connect and learn together. Home is not school and it’s going to create more stress for everyone, if you try to make it that.
- – Self-directed learning is a brilliant way for them to spend their days, exploring, creating, developing…. and so much more!
- – Have FUN!! For them and for you. We all need to find ways to enjoy this time together.
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Kirsty Lee is the founder of Gentle Parenting Memes, a hair stylist, a Mother of two kids (5 & 8) in Australia, and runs the very popular instagram accounts @gentleparenting_memes and @gentleparenting_cards.