Importance of Self-Care in Parenting - Episode 9 Teen Clinic Podcast

Parents At Work Podcast

It is vital to look after yourself if you want to be able to nurture your relationships, but what does that look like on a practical basis? How do you fit 'you' into an already busy day? In this episode, youth advocate, teen expert, and mother of three teenagers, Lucy Dahill, discusses the importance of self-care for parents - including the consequences on the family due to lack of self-care, and the ways that parents can incorporate self-care WITHOUT having to add anything into their already busy schedules. Lucy explores the interesting concept of time vs. space, and how allowing ourselves time to do even the most simple tasks during the day can then give us the space that we are in need of for our self-care. She teaches us how to prevent stressing about how we will fit in time for ourselves within our busy schedule, but instead plan how will we fit our busy schedule around taking time for ourselves. There are simple ways that allow you to be more present in the activities you are already taking on in your day in order to fulfil the need for self-care. Some of these suggestions are as simple as drinking more water, but it is the attitude towards these suggestions that make all the difference. With the findings from the National Working Families Survey showing that working parents' most challenging issue is finding time to look after their own physical and mental health (two-thirds of working parents reporting feeling too emotionally and physically drained after work to contribute to the family), this podcast is more important than ever.