The Importance of Self Care For Parents

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate programs. An affiliate advertising is designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post may contain affiliate links.

So many parents get so caught up in being parents that they often neglect themselves. Self care for parents is so important because it encourages you to do something for yourself – the individual you are.

When was the last time you did something just for you?

Have you taken the time to do something that brings you joy, just for the fun of it?

Before we became parents, we had an individual identity that was determined by no one but ourselves. But, for many of us, that identity changed when our children were born.

We went from identifying as individuals to identifying as a parent.

Nothing wrong with identifying as a parent but one has to still honor that individual that exists within. We are more than parents and relying on our importance as a parent really ignores so much of who we are.

Loosing Your Identity

I have talked to so many parents who feel that they have lost their identity in the years since becoming a parent – especially those with multiple young children.

It can be hard to see yourself through the overwhelming day to day of taking care of young children.

Being a parent is hard.

Whether you have one child or multiple, no matter the age or the gender, being a parent is hard.

Being yourself, while being a parent, can be even harder.

It can seem impossible to take time to do something that you truly enjoy when there are diapers to be washed, meals to be cooked, dishes to do, and games to play.

Add in work or trying to strengthen social bonds, and suddenly there are just never enough hours in the day to do something just for you.

Reconnecting With Yourself

What is it that you love to do?

If you had time to yourself, what would you do?

How many times have you heard a parent say “the kids are with Grandma today, so I am going to clean the house” or something other variation of this.

I know I am guilty.

Taking the time that someone has given me, to do something for me, and I spend it doing the same thing as I do on any regular day.

As I have gotten older and further along in this journey called parenting, I have realized how much I miss that person who was an individual.

I got so disconnected from that person, that she no longer exists.

I am at a weird, transitional time in my life where I am juggling being a parent while trying to reestablish who this person is that I see in the mirror in front of me.

Reconnecting with the individual spirit who resides within this body.

Taking being a parent, a partner, a coworker, out of the equation. All of those things are wonderful things to be, but who are you as an individual – no defined by your relationship to someone else.

The Importance Of Self Care For Parents

Taking time for you and allowing yourself to do something you enjoy is so important.

Giving yourself the time and space to be who you are and do things that bring you joy will allow you to improve your life on so many different levels.

Self care for parents is so important because we give so much of ourselves to others.

Not only do we forget to allow ourselves to receive from others, but we often forget to receive from ourselves as well – often putting others needs before our own.

Self care and self love are quite fashionable words as of late.

So many people use them but how many of us actually take the time to do it.

Self care and self love is not about going to the spa or treating yourself to something special.

It is about taking the time to be you.

Whether you want to embrace your creativity and give yourself time to knit or sew. Or perhaps you love nature and go for a hike to reconnect.

We all have different passions and interests.

No one can tell you the right or wrong way to reconnect with yourself.

As parents, we need to nourish the individual inside of ourselves just as we strive to nourish the little ones in our lives.

While we catch our children grow, they are watching us grow.

Set an example by showing them how important being true to yourself is.