A Happy Parent leads to a Happy Child

It’s hard to be happy and healthy as a parent when you have to juggle so many responsibilities on a daily basis. Your priority is your child at all times, so you most likely feel as if there isn’t time to focus on your own personal happiness. But that’s nonsense. In order for a child to be happy, they need a happy household. And that won’t happen if you aren’t fulfilled. Here’s how to improve your own life so as to be a happier and stronger parent to your child.

Find time in your schedule for YOU

If you want to be a better parent to your child then you need to think of your personal happiness too. An unhappy parent will struggle to keep their own children happy because your little ones pick up on your mood. They want you to be happy just as much as you want them to be happy. Take some time to maintain relationships with partners and friends (as well as your children) so as to ensure you have a diverse and exciting social life. This is one of my 2018 goals to make sure every week I do something non kid related, outside of the house. Your mind is also very important as a parent so don’t dismiss your own personal happiness. Even the food you eat has a huge impact on your mindset, so make sure you have the time to eat a healthy and nutritious dinner; your child follows by example, so eat your greens if you want them to eat theirs!

Maintain your physical health

Of course, the most important thing that we let slip as adults (never mind parents) is our physical health. Your time is spent juggling a job, children, household chores, and many other small tasks that seem to dominate all of your spare time. Whilst you might not have paid much attention to safeguarding your health whilst you were younger either, it becomes more pressing to think about these things as you hit middle age and your body doesn’t work as well. If you have had kids then chances are you may start to suffer from bladder problems and in that case you might want to look into getting an incontinence pad to not only improve comfort but reduce skin irritation. But this is only one such problem that faces many of us as we start to get older. Impaired senses generally affect people more as we age so don’t put off that appointment with your optician or seeing an audiologist if your hearing starts to fade.

The other excuse you’re guilty of making is that there’s no time to exercise. This is one of my favourite sayings. However, if you want to maintain your physical health then you need to change your attitude towards healthy living. Find 10 minutes of your day to go for a run around the street (or your office car park if you only have spare time during your lunch break) could make a huge difference to your physical health. At the end of the day, it’s about keeping your heart and mind healthy as well as maintaining a healthy weight. If you want to live a long life with your children (and grandchildren) then you need to prioritise your physical health. Don’t put the importance of safeguarding your body on the back burner.

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