“Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — Christopher Robin
How is your mental health? We are in a stage where we have to be aware of our mental health in different areas. Mental health as a spouse, as an individual, employee, or boss, and as a parent.
Mentally strong parents are able to teach, practice, engage, and model mental strength so that their kids can learn the skills they need to become mentally strong adults.
Here are 5 things mentally strong parents do with their children:
1. They Spend Quality Time Together
It doesn’t matter if you are working on a science experiment or shopping together, mentally strong parents work on strengthening their bonds with their kids. They know that the parent-child relationship will affect a child’s future relationships, social interactions, and self-worth. They invest in this relationship.
2. Explore Their Feelings
Mentally strong parents don’t burden their kids with their own emotional turmoil, but they are willing to use feeling words in their everyday conversations. They normalize feelings of sadness, joy, frustration, fear, and anger, and encourage kids to share how they’re feeling. They encourage their children to explore these feelings and learn to process them.
3. They Practice Coping Skills
Mentally strong parents don’t just tell kids to “calm down” or “stop crying” without giving them healthy coping skills. They teach them strategies that help them manage their feelings in a healthy way. Then, they offer gentle reminders like, “Take a few deep breaths” or, “Take a break for a minute” to guide kids when they need a little assistance.
4. They Establish Goals
Goal setting is a valuable skill, and mentally strong parents know that kids can learn from each goal they set. Mistakes, failure, and success all provide valuable life lessons. So whether they’re establishing a personal fitness goal or creating an academic goal each month, they help their kids challenge themselves.
5. Care for Themselves
Building mental strength isn’t about inflicting pain or a show of physical strength — it involves self-care. So mentally strong parents make it a priority to take care of their bodies, minds, and spirits. They model the importance of a good diet and plenty of sleep, prayer, meditation, and they invite their kids to exercise and engage in healthy social activities.
These are just five things that mentally strong parents do. It’s alright if you don’t do all of these. Begin to incorporate them into your life. Build yourself up and then you can build your children up.
Discussion Question:
What are you doing for your mental health?
