Practice gratitude this 4th of July!

 

The holidays are a great time to practice gratitude in the company of family & loved ones.  A couple of ways to practice gratitude as a family this 4th of July include:

  • Stating 1-2 things that you are grateful for in your family while sharing a meal
  • Doing something nice for someone else
  • Watch inspiring or funny videos together
  • Call or video chat a grandparent who may not be able to spend the holiday with you
  • Be in the moment with one another and soak in every smile, laugh, and positive moment

Happy 4th of July!

 

 

Listen to Your Body & Mind

Sometimes, our bodies and minds tell us what we need. Listen to what your body and mind are telling you and prioritize time to take care of yourself. Maybe you’ve been feeling exhausted or sad and just need time to take a nap or process your feelings. Maybe you’ve been feeling anxious and restless and find relief in exercise. Whatever it is that you feel like you need, we encourage you to prioritize yourself and practice a little self-care. You deserve it.

Discover You Joy!

Focus on doing things that bring you joy when practicing self-care! Whether it’s reading a book, going on a run, practicing yoga, gardening, or talking with friends, when you do what you love, you’re more likely to make time for it. 

 

Gratitude as Self-Care

A simple and quick way to practice self-care is to take 5-10 minutes out of the day to reflect on what you are grateful for. Practicing gratitude helps us notice the positive things in our lives and leads to feelings of joy and peace. Gratitude also helps us stay in the present moment and reduces feelings of stress and anxiety!

Build Self-Care into Your Schedule

One of the best ways to make sure that you have time for self-care is to plan it! When you build self-care into your schedule, you are more likely to follow through with it. While having a full hour to yourself would be ideal, we realize that this isn’t always an option. Even setting aside 10-15 minutes a day to engage in self-care can make a big difference! Figure out what works best for you and try and keep it consistent. Know that this won’t be a perfect process, so give yourself grace on the days where self-care may need to look a bit different or doesn’t happen at all.

Practicing Self-Care as a Parent: Series Intro

As a parent, finding time for self-care and relaxation can be a challenge, especially during the summer months when school is out. This is especially true with the changes we’ve faced over the past several months due to the coronavirus pandemic. While finding time for yourself can be difficult, it’s also extremely important for your overall health and well-being. Not only does self-care help you feel rested and improve your mental and emotional health, but it also improves your ability to show up for your kids!

Throughout this week, we’ll be sharing strategies to help you practice self-care and relaxation this summer!

Teaching Kids to Be a Good Friend through Role Plays

One of the best ways for us to learn is to practice. One way to do this is through role-plays. Whether you pretend to be different characters or use dolls/action figures, this can help your kids try out different friendship scenarios that may be challenging to navigate in real life. Work together to come up with different scenarios and solutions and talk about what you learned! This can help teach kids important skills like compromise and conflict resolution!

Some example scenarios include:

  • A friend is sad because they got a bad grade.
  • Someone is using a toy you want to play with and won’t take turns.
  • You and your friend can’t agree on what game to play or what movie to watch.
  • A friend at school is teasing you.

Teaching Kids To Be a Good Friend: Learn about Friendship through Media

Another great way to teach kids about being a good friend is to watch TV shows/movies and read books about friendship. This can help them see different scenarios, teaching them the difference between healthy and unhealthy friendships. After watching the movies/shows or reading the book, encourage a dialogue with your kids about what they noticed about the friendships. Were they healthy or unhealthy and why? How did characters show qualities of a good friend? What could they have done differently? How can they apply what they learned in their own friendships?