🚀 Level Up – What is the Creative Parenting Mindset?

Many parents have a lot of fun with their kids but feel frustrated, uncertain, and out of balance when things go negative.

As a pediatric psychiatrist, one of the things I love most is helping parents when they are at this point. That’s because it often takes little effort to get things back on track—if you choose the right strategy.

But finding the right strategy can feel like a mystery. That’s why I’m launching the Creative Parenting Mindset newsletter.

While learning and understanding the basics of healthy parenting is essential (and we will cover many strategies), no one “system” will help you in all situations.

I believe that you are the expert on your kid, so it’s up to you to determine what seems likely to work. What idea do you want to implement? What skills do you want to develop in yourself and your child?

That is what the Creative Parenting Mindset is about. It’s about considering new ideas and adding them to your parenting style as you see fit. It’s about believing that you can improve as a parent and that things can improve between you and your kids.

Your confidence in handling difficult situations will increase as you grow as a parent. You’ll have a greater sense of peace and satisfaction that you are doing the right things, and you will be far more effective as a parent.

I’m excited to have the opportunity to send out this newsletter! Every week, I aim to encourage you and give you some new ideas…or a fresh take on the best “old” ideas!

🔋 Parenting Recharge – Taking Care of Yourself

While most parents sacrifice for their kids, some take it too far. They’ll go without comforts or even necessities so that they can help their kids as much as possible.

Digging deep to provide for our kids is one of the ways we express our love for our kids. The problem with taking it too far is that it can leave us feeling burnt out and broken down.

We are going to be talking a lot about self-care in this newsletter. It’s critical that you do it. Why? Your kids need you to be healthy.

If you are completely out of balance in your emotional and physical health, it will be much harder for your kids. In fact, they might have to reverse roles and start taking care of you.

Sacrificing your health in caring for your kids is a tradeoff that usually does not pay off in the end. So, taking care of your kids means that you are taking care of your basic needs as well as theirs.

If you are struggling because of your physical or mental health, you are much more likely to be irritable and lose control of your anger and anxiety, which can negatively affect your relationship with your kids.

Blowing up at your kids, especially if it becomes a pattern, harms your relationship with them. Self-care will help you to be in a better mental state and less likely to explode at them in the first place.

So, if there’s an area of your own health care that you’ve been putting off, please take action this week!

🙂 Kids’ Mental Health – Where to Start

If you are concerned about your child’s mental health and want to do everything you can to support them, you are not alone. Worries about their child’s mental health are among the top concerns of parents today.

But being concerned about something doesn’t necessarily guide you or tell you where to start. Most parenting experts would encourage you to talk regularly with your kids about their mental health and their emotions, and I fully agree with that approach.

If you are worried about your child’s mental health, ask them. You could start by sharing your concerns, such as, “I’ve noticed you’ve been looking down lately. And I want to support you. I wonder if anything has been stressing you out or getting you down.”

Anxiety and depression are real problems, and, unfortunately, they’ve been on the rise for kids. In general, it’s best to take action and get help for your kids if they are showing a pattern of depression or anxiety because, for many, it’s not “just a phase.”

Across the lifespan, most mental health problems begin in youth. Of people who develop a mental illness in their lifetime, 50% develop symptoms by age 14, and a whopping 75% of people develop symptoms by age 24.

The good news is that when you identify a mental health problem in childhood, the earlier you deal with it by starting effective treatment, the better the outcomes.

I’ll leave you with one more positive thing before wrapping up today. You can take steps to prevent mental illness both for yourself and your kids. In supporting your child’s mental health, we won’t only be talking about treatment. We’ll also be talking about prevention.

You are already one of the most influential people in your child’s life. You can also be one of the most critical influences supporting their mental health.