Written by: Reah R. Hagues, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Caring for others requires self-care first which we do not always focus on before becoming parents/caregivers. Although possibly difficult, it is extremely important and possible. This article will teach you how to learn, grow, and develop into a successful caregiver through education, life experience, and self-care.
Parental (caregiver) health
Parenting/caregiving comes with many responsibilities. Sometimes these responsibilities are catered to with natural ability, sometimes requiring education, growth, and experience you can only develop as time passes. Mind/body focuses on your mental, physical, financial, sexual, and emotional health. These things also play into your parental/caregiver health as they affect your ability to parent/care give if not catered to and consistently maintained to stay healthy.
Managing your overall mental and physical health with positive, mindful, active, and healthy practices is imperative to parental/caregiver success. Taking charge of maintaining your sexual health also pours into your mind/body health through safe and healthy decision-making and regular health checkups and practices that keep your body healthy concerning sexual activity. Financial decisions impact our mental and emotional health through stress management and future planning. These factors coupled with spiritual health (when applicable), are all part of an intricate web woven to maintain holistic wellness as parents/caregivers.
Generational blips
Generational blips can sometimes prevent the feeling of your ability to feel successful or to feel that success is attainable. These can heavily impact our ability and success at healthy mental, physical, financial, sexual, and emotional maintenance. What we consider to be
generational blips are things passed down from one generation to another that hinder success, implement negative growth or experiences, and seem to prevent success in the generations the experiences/habits are passed on to. The most common generational blips/curses include poverty, addiction, abuse, sexual exploitation, and abandonment. Things like smoking in public places (or smoking at all), sexual judgements, and mixing of cultures/races have become less common or at least brought to attention that these things should not be stigmatized. However, just because something is less common does not always mean it is nonexistent. These things all still occur regularly for some. Inclusion, as well as acceptance, is more common to avoid and reduce harmful/hateful beliefs or traditions that keep people in harmful situations. Changing unhealthy patterns is essential to redirecting negative/unhealthy behaviors like addiction, sexual exploitation, abandonment, etc. Efforts have slowly been made to demoralize these and other things that have been a pattern for some families for generations. Just because something has become a pattern within a family or group of people does not mean it has to continue to be habitual. It's like the photo that starts with one woman yelling at a mother and ends with the mother using explanatory words to communicate with the child instead of yelling. Things can change, they just have to start to be changed.
Hope
Most parents/caregivers juggle many roles like transportation provider, chef, maid, spiritual advisor, bedtime enforcer, hygienist, and teacher's assistant. While these are things we already do for ourselves, we take extra steps to make sure they get done for our smaller ones too, as we also juggle work/business and personal lives (along with our own emotions, physical focuses, etc.) which is not always an easy feat. Luckily, there are ways to make these tasks easier to complete with a healthy mind and outcome. Sometimes taking the long way home, showering
a little longer, reading a book poolside while the kids play in the pool, recognizing your stressors, starting that gym routine you've been putting off (I am also talking to me), beginning therapy to heal from past trauma, etc. Whatever you choose, know that what you do is as important for YOU as it is for them. No matter what you have faced in life, there is hope for success!
Summary
Parenting/caregiving is never a flawless and stress-free journey, no matter how educated and experienced you are. Life often interferes as we are humans with human responses and human reactions. As important as it is to be a healthy parent/caregiver, it is equally important to be a healthy human! Part of being successful at anything is learning, growing, implementing, and continually repeating those steps. With the right growth and guidance, you can improve your holistic and parental health to provide hope to yourself and those you care for!
Pick up your copy of Reah's Mom/Dad Brain workbooks here.
Reah R. Hagues, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Reah is a wife to Quintin and a mother to 5 humans and 3 pets. She is the daughter of Kim (or Ma to her), and big sister to Raven. Reah has earned multiple degrees including a Bachelor's degree in Christian studies, Master's degree in Psychology, Master's degree in Holistic Mental Health and Wellness (with emphasis on family dynamics), and a Master's level certification in Life Coaching.
