Jan
15
2014

Coaching for parents

An article by Claire Cornthwaite

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Struggling with getting back into the swing of things after the new year break? Here are some top tips to help you and your family connect whilst juggling the world of work, school and family time.

Let’s get together!

Having spent the duration of the school holidays together it can be hard to say goodbye to each other as the normality of life sets in and everyone goes their separate ways to go back to work and school. Children will easily form an internal habit of having their family around them to play with, support them and to have that broken can be a big change especially for the younger members of the family. Make sure you create time each day to spend time doing some of the activities and games you all loved doing together over the holidays.

Listen!

We play a little game each evening before story time where we ask each other to name 3 things that we have done today that made us smile. It is a great way to listen to how other members of the family have spent their day and it is a very easy way for young children to interact with others. Keeping it lighthearted and positive is a brilliant way to end the day.

Sleep!

Spending time socialising with family and friends, possibly travelling and having the occasional late night is a must over the holidays but it also means that when everyone returns to “normal” we are all a little overtired and emotionally drained. Making sure everyone has a sensible amount of sleep is a great way of rebooting the system and encouraging rebalance helping you function more effectively. The darkness of the winter months aids us to sleep deeper and for longer so take full advantage and allow alarms to be absent at weekends if possible.

Timeout!

Everyone needs time away from conversation and observation. Being aware that you all need to have some alone time can help you digest the day mentally and can also help you have some inner peace before bedtime or even embarking on a new activity if it’s during the day. If you have older children it is a bit easier to grab solo time especially with the invention of video games and iPad’s that keep teenagers amused for hours. I have younger children who enjoy listening to audio books on their headphones to grab 5minutes peace from each other.

Relax!

Enjoying time together as a family that doesn’t take too much effort can be the best time spent together after a hectic week at work and school. Pencil in a movie night or even a trip to the cinema and you get to spend precious time together without even saying a word. Bliss 