How To Make Self-Care a Family Priority
Why should self-care be a priority for families?
Practising self-care can make you feel happier and more physically, mentally and emotionally able to deal with life’s pressures and stresses. For busy, hectic families, ensuring self-care is a priority makes sense, as it helps parents be better carers. It also role models positive behaviour for teens, which they’ll adopt and benefit from into adulthood.
What self-care works for you?
Self-care is different for everyone – you might have to work together to figure out the best options for each of you. Ask everyone to think about these questions individually:
- What activities make you feel good and recharged?
- What would you like to do more of?
- Are there any activities that you look forward to during the week?
- What would your ideal day look like? What activities would you do?
If you’re struggling to think of specific activities, think about:
- For parents (who may have forgotten!): What did you love doing before you had kids?
- For children: Remind them of the things you’ve seen them enjoying.
Think low budget or free. This is about filling hearts with joy, not emptying your bank account.
Take a quick quiz at
to find out what sort of self-care works for you.
Self-care works best as a routine.
Regular acts of self-care keep you energised and dealing with pressures well. Put your individual self-care plans into the family planner and make it a priority:
- See this as an ongoing wellbeing plan, not an emergency response for when things get too much.
- Have the attitude that self-care activities are the last to be dropped from the schedule, not the first.
- Talk about the importance of each doing the things you enjoy, that make you feel happy.
- Bounce ideas and put them in the planner or calendar and support each other in doing them.
- Encourage your family to keep at it. Be clear that you value self-care and will always support them in being able to do it.