4 ways to bring a sense of normalcy back into your children’s lives right now despite all the barriers we're facing
From the time children enter kindergarten the murmurs of prom, 8th-grade graduation, and so many other celebrations begin. As if some type of fairy tale like the modern-day Cinderella, there are so many celebrations and ceremonies for our children to engage in.
However, since the arrival of Covid, our children and adolescents have been living in a pandemic and not a fairytale. There have been no proms, many of our graduations have been drive by if anything at all, and celebrations have been limited to less than 25 or 10. Definitely not the events of our dreams as parents, let alone the dreams our children had for themselves.
Which begs the question, now what? Are we all just traumatized? Are we all frozen in a state of fear? Are we just stuck in a powerless state of numbness? Absolutely not. Please don’t misunderstand me. For some people, this is absolutely traumatic. That’s why we’ve seen an increase in so many traumatic type events. What I would like to focus on is how to overcome and move past the ickiness of covid and resume the normality of your life despite all the barriers.
Make schedules: Routines are important for brains of so many different varieties. Even the most normal brains can benefit from routines and rituals, but neurodiverse brains specifically (ADHD, dyslexia, anxious brains, etc) really benefit from routines around things like when they go to sleep, when they eat when they bathe when they do homework when they have a fun time, etc. The more structure they have the more life begins to make sense to them.
Keep Your Own Emotions In Check: As a parent in this world, it can be absolutely terrifying. Specifically when you have all these dreams for your children. However, it’s more important now than ever to manage your emotions and to monitor and demonstrate that in a healthy and well-balanced way in front of your children and teenagers. Remember that they are watching you for their cues for how to handle things in the world, whether they admit it or not, therefore if your feelings and emotions are out of control theirs will be as well.
Focus On Creating Relaxation: Encourage your children, teens, and family to play. Have a family board game night, make sure you are having periods of laughter, and when you are doing things together engaging in intentional fun and relaxation. There are tons of free relaxation apps that you can find online, download one of them and experiment with them and find one of them that your family enjoys.
Meet Your Basic Needs: In times of stress and turmoil, we tend to skip our basic needs. We stop sleeping as much, we skip some meals, and we stop drinking as much water as we normally do. It’s not necessarily out of a sense of sabotage, but more so out of a sense of priorities. Therefore during times of stress, it’s more important than ever to make sure you are getting enough sleep for your body, getting proper nutrition, and hydrating your body enough. Check-in with your body and make sure that your personal needs are being met, whatever they may be.
Remember there is always hope, and no matter what we are experiencing it is important to always have something to look forward to. No matter how far into the future it is. Allowing ourselves to dream is an important escape and coping skill for many of us.
If you feel like your ability to bounce back from the stress of covid has been impaired and has not been the way it should be, we encourage you to seek out the assistance of a licensed professional.
Read more about our providers here:www.TheMentalWellnessCenter.com/providers
If you would like to schedule an appointment, please feel free to call us at 309-807-5077 or email us at info@TheMentalWellnessCenter.com to set up an appointment.
