Children's Mental Health Week

Today is the 1st February – January is thankfully over, the days are getting brighter and longer and it’s Children’s Mental Health Week!  

I don’t know about you, but, as a Mam, I seriously worry about the effects of Covid 19 on my kids.  On the positive side, I think this experience will make them extremely resilient, adaptable and capable of facing future challenges head on.  However, I also worry about the long term impacts of not seeing their friends, playing sport and enjoying a normal life.  To be honest, I don’t let my mind think about it for too long as I find it a bit overwhelming.

I felt I needed to do something.  So, I recently started a Children’s Mindfulness Course to understand how to practice mindfulness with my own children and, also, to potentially help other parents to practice mindfulness with their own children.  For me,  this is one small way I can try to help my kids, ‘checking-in’ on their mental health in a calm and relaxed way. 

The other step I have taken is to mind myself a bit more.  I’ve said it before – I truly believe we need to invest in ourselves and our own self-care to be able to help, support and mind those around us.  It’s baby steps for me – I’ve started reading at night, I’m listening to more podcasts in my spare time and I’m trying to get out for fresh air every day.  Like the oxygen mask on the plane, I am ‘putting my mask on first’ so that I can help others. 

I am by no means an expert on children’s mental health.  That's why, this week I will share some insights from those who are the experts.  We can learn from them and hopefully take away something which may help us to ‘mind the minds’ of the kids in our lives.