Why Self Care?

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Why is it important to take care of yourself when you are a parent?

If you were going to run a marathon, you would probably do several of the items on this list:

  • Read inspiring stories about people who run
  • Get tips from people who run
  • Set up a training schedule
  • Learn to pace yourself.
  • Eat good food.
  • Drink lots of water.
  • Stretch your muscles.
  • Get as much sleep as possible.

Being a parent is like running a marathon every day!

What are the benefits of practicing self-care everyday?

Puts Gas in Your Gas Tank – Self Care Gives Energy:

  • Parenting is hard work and requires energy. Taking care of yourself as a parent means that you will have the energy to really be a good parent.

When Everything Goes Wrong–Self Care Increases Patience

  • Parenting requires a tremendous amount of patience every day.

Start them early – Your Self-Care Increases Your Child’s Self-Care

  • Our children watch everything we do! If your child is watching you take good care of yourself then they learn how to take good care of themselves too – which will make both of your lives much easier!

Daily Reminder: You have to take care of yourselfif you want to make it across the finish line!


Examples of self care from a parent:

Every couple of hours, I make sure that I take at least 5 minutes to do something for myself. This way I make sure that I have enough energy to be a good parent to my two-year old son — play train, say “no” a dozen times, pick up a thousand blocks, read Dr. Seuss, ignore his whining, dance to Halloween songs (in January) and on and on and on!

My two-year old loves music. So do I! When we are starting to get on each other’s last good nerve, I say, “Let’s listen to some music €“ it will help us feel better.” And it always does. I am trying to stretch my old muscles every day. My son gets down on the floor with me and does “yogo”(yoga!) too.

I am trying to drink more water these days to keep my immune system up, so I walk around with a water bottle. So does my child.

I like to read my People magazine to relax. My son sits besides me reading his Noodle magazine!

© Parent Trust for Washington Children