...Simple Steps to Successful Parenting
BEST PARENTING ADVICE
SELF CARE FOR PARENTS
Time & Sanity Savers
While I don't think I ever managed to achieve balance across all areas of my life, at exactly the same time, I probably managed to achieve a reasonable amount of it. That way most of our children's, and parent needs, were met most of the time.
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Why go to any effort to try to save time?
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You can only spend time once
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Planning helps create greater life balance
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You learn to prioritize what is most important (e.g. reading to your children) over what is urgent (e.g. phone call)
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You can automate many routine activities (e.g. meal preparation, shopping, )
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You can free up time to achieve common goals
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More free time usually reduces stress levels
To begin, I worked out what was most important to all of us. Then I built the organization around that to make sure what was important happened.
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I realized planning self-care activities, for both parents, is the key to ensure that we were both effective and happy.
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If parents are feeling like they've got low energy or motivation, they're often more reactive, or disengaged. Rather than being relaxed and in control. Which impacts on family relationships.
Families that have common goals, have a greater chance of long-term success.
So our family worked together for the betterment of us all.
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​Something to consider:
If people within the family aren't having their needs met, they may be more likely to start looking outside the family to find what they seek.
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You see this with teenagers, who seek out those who are exciting and fun, rather than spend time with family who in comparison, are boring. Expecting homework done and chores completed are boring in comparison.
And you'll also see it in the partner that has an affair. Home can have become mundane, or stressful, and there's not enough in it for them to keep them loyal.
Some even become willing to jeopardize everything for some excitement.
I wonder... do you ever feel you're on a treadmill and no matter how hard you work, you can't get it all done. And do you think your partner may sometimes feel the same?
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It's vital that as a couple, you look at your most important non-negotiable needs. So over the long term, you make achieving them, a priority.
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We can all cope with postponement for a while, or for the greater good. But when that's all there is, and that's all there will be for the long-term, the seeds of relationship sabotage have been sown. ​
For great ideas on how to free up time, go to the following links:
Assuming you're a rational being, and not a martyr, how long would you continue remaining loyal to a family, when there's nothing in it for you?
I've seen time and time again, if there's nothing in it for them, parents question their life choices. Our divorce statistics are high for a reason.
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But by planning ahead and prioritizing, you may be able to meet more of your wants and self care needs than you ever thought possible.
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Some of the tabs below give ideas that worked well for us. You can use them as they are, or as input to help you create your own.
Check out
Making Family Life Easy below:
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Best Parenting Advice.com is a high quality parenting website designed with child and family success in mind. It highlights what successful parents do differently to those who struggle. Best Parenting advice.com provides free online resources for busy parents who want the best practical advice on: how to give kids a best start in life, better tips for parenting toddlers, effective child rearing strategies, behaviour management tips, successful goal setting and organizational strategies for successful families, easy family dinner recipes, self-care tips for time-poor parents and free kids learning games. The aim of Best Parenting Advice.com is to provide quality practical parenting tips and advice to best help children and families succeed, using the convenience of a website.
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This website provides examples of what worked for me over decades and you are welcome to use these ideas as you see fit but you do so at your own risk. Best Parenting Advice.com does not provide any guarantee that this information will work in every circumstance with every family or with every child. It is your responsibility as a user of this website to ensure that you adhere to any recommended safety suggestions either implicit or explicit on this site and supervise your children while playing any games suggested. Similarly users of this website are advised to follow any recommendations for seeking professional advice as all information on this site is generic. Best Parenting Advice.com is an independent website and is not affiliated with any other groups, clubs, religious organizations or educational systems.
Best parenting takes time. The best parenting advice ever is simple: Do your best, don't give up and love your children, no matter what.