Care for our kids’ physical and mental health is our primary concern during these extremely testing lockdown times. Our kids are locked indoors for over forty days now with no physical outdoor play, no meeting, and having fun with their friends at school and no outing to granny’s home or to a weekend getaway. Even if they don’t speak which they don’t normally no matter they are introverts or extroverts, this situation does cause stress in them and it becomes our duty to step in to aid them to secure they remain mentally strong. They are tiny innocent delicate buds and we need to protect them and equip them against any rough weather. This is Mental Health Awareness Month and here I bring to you 5 key tips to secure our children’s sound mental health.
1. Become their best buddy and venture in the balcony or the terrace with them: Exposure to sunlight is vital for our precious little one’s mental and physical growth as sunlight contains Vitamin D. No schools and not fixed routines may make the kid a lazy bum who likes clinging to his iPad. This needs to be thoughtfully changed as we become and behave more like a friend to our kid. Wake our child early at the time of sunrise and spending half an hour with him in the balcony or on the terrace just walking or skipping or doing yoga or just gardening shall give a very good energetic yet peaceful start to his day.
2. Connect them on video calls with their friends and people they love: Humans are social beings and nothing uplifts their spirits like chatting with a person they love. This is true for us and even more for our little minions. Let the kids’ experience the human connect by doing a video call with their best buddies. They can choose to do a lot of activities together too and have fun. I take an online creative writing session for my kid and all the students of my academy twice a week where they connect, chat, giggle and write a lot of creative pieces and share with all. You can organise a similar online play date. It really leaves them all in cheerful spirits and is extremely gratifying. The happy hormones secreted in their bodies during these fun chats help the kids de-stress.
3. Give them some great books to read: I have always maintained that books are our best buddies. A good book can transport our kid to the world of the protagonist almost instantly and make him enjoy his flights of fantasy, delving in newer territories. Reading is a fantastic hobby which prevents our brain from getting time to get any negative thoughts about the difficult situation we are in. Read with your kid at least an hour a day, this way both of you will stick to your priceless reading routine. Do discuss what he read and have a fun discussion around his favorite character.
4. Enjoy Quality Family time full of cuddles: The biggest blessing of these testing times are we are getting a lot of quality time with our family and let’s please make hay as the sun shines. Dedicate fixed hours when you are free to have fun together as family. Play board games, watch a movie with popcorns, enjoy some water play in shower or pillow fight have loads of fun together and build sweet memories each day. Remember to flood your little one with cuddles and snuggles as often as you can no matter how old he is. Kids feel very special when they get a peck on their cheeks from their parents.
5. Take care of their nutrition and maintain schedules: Treat the lockdown days like the prolonged summer vacations for the kids. All the life skills you had planned to teach them, can be taught now in a fun way. Involve your kid in cooking to the extent relevant to his age. This will distract him from his screen time and also he will enjoy eating what he himself has cooked with mom and dad. It is imperative that the kid eats a healthy balanced diet and they may get bored so let them decide the dish of the day they wish to learn and savor it proudly later. Maintaining discipline in their daily schedule shall help them greatly and we have to enforce it with a lot of warmth and care. Appreciate their being so fab and watch how wonderfully disciplined they can be.
6. Spend gadget-free one hour before sleep time talking to them: This bedtime routine was taught to me by an eminent pediatrician long back and I have always followed it. Get into your kid’s bed with him an hour before his sleep time far away from electronic gadgets and spend that one hour hearing his little heart out, talking about just anything, telling them a story, and gradually kissing them to sleep. I know you will be tired as hell yourself but this time shall be vital for both of you and shall strengthen and deepen your bond. The kid shall develop faith in his parents and feel secure that come what may, his parents are there. This belief is so vital for him to stay mentally strong no matter how tough gets going.
This post is a part of a year-long #Causeachatter initiative on Blogchatter wherein I will be penning on Women and Kids Mental and Physical Health and Fitness exhaustively.
This post is a part of a year-long #Causeachatter initiative on Blogchatter wherein I will be penning on Women and Kids Mental and Physical Health and Fitness exhaustively.
If you like what I write, you can grab the copies of my four published ebooks here: The Fragrance of True Love, Destiny's Favorite Child, Dare to Defy The Destiny and Empowered Women Empower Women
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