By: Alicia Ross
You Have a Village is starting a “Self Care Series!” Beginning today, we’ll be posting articles with tips to help the tired, overworked parent unwind. Self care can include a huge range of activities and processes, and is ultimately an individual endeavour. Strategies that work for someone else may not necessarily work well for you, but we hope our suggestions will help you get the ball rolling! My personal favorite form of self care is journaling, so I decided to compile a list here of journal prompts to help parents check in with themselves and how they are feeling, while also engaging in the therapeutic process of writing.
10 Journal Prompts for Parents
1. Make a list of the “small victories” of today
Alternatively, list today’s accomplishments, no matter how small
2. What can you commit to doing for yourself in the upcoming week?
Some ideas: have a 1-1 catch-up session with a friend, take a relaxing bath, tune into a Zoom fitness class
3. What’s your favorite parenting moment from this week?
Write it down so you don’t forget! Be as detailed as possible
4. How would you describe the inside of your mind?
What does it look like? feel like? sound like? Is it a nice place to be? How could you make it nicer?
5. Freewrite a “To-do List,” coming up with as many things as possible. Next, go through and combine similar tasks, grouping together the ones that can be done all at once. Identify the quick ones, things that can be checked off in 10 minutes or less. Then, break down the larger, more daunting tasks into smaller pieces, for example:
Clean the house > clean the bathroom > scrub the shower
6. Compare your parenting style to that of your own parents, or alternatively to the style of your in-laws.
What aspects of their styles can you similarly identify in your own? What are the differences?
7. What challenge are you facing most lately?
What ways can you begin to tackle it? Is there someone who could help? Identify the obstacles to solving the problem and brainstorm ways to overcome them
8. Love languages! What is your love language? your partner’s? your child[ren]’s ?
How can improvements be made on the way you are receiving and/or giving love? What is working well now on the love languages front?
9. In what ways is your house a home?
Take some time to think about your space, appreciating the things you love about it and acknowledging areas for improvement
10. Identify the last great conversation you had, and write about it
Why did you enjoy it? Why was it important to you? Does the person it was with know how much it meant to you? Could/should you tell them?
PRINT OUTS
Here is a print out option of the above prompts.
Here is a sheet of the love languages and how to use them in the home.
And here are some adult coloring books for relaxation. Print them and enjoy.
