{"id":6335,"date":"2019-10-31T15:30:02","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T22:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/?p=6335"},"modified":"2023-05-19T09:10:54","modified_gmt":"2023-05-19T16:10:54","slug":"parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Parental Burnout: Why Self-Care is Child Care"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"> <\/figure>\n<p>Parenting is demanding, especially when you<br \/>\nhave more than one kid because then you\u2019re outnumbered! <\/p>\n<p>Raising healthy, happy kids is hard enough by itself but when you add all of your other responsibilities to the mix, life can become overwhelming pretty fast. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Even so, parents rarely admit when they\u2019re struggling<br \/>\nor feeling overwhelmed because doing so can make them feel inadequate or that<br \/>\nthey\u2019re a bad parent. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Burnout<br \/>\nis Not Stress<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Burnout occurs when the daily stress of<br \/>\nparenting turns into intense exhaustion. It leaves the parents feeling detached<br \/>\nfrom their kids, and unsure of their parenting abilities. They stop enjoying<br \/>\nparenting and start fantasizing about getting away from it all.<\/p>\n<p>Exhausted parents are likelier to neglect<br \/>\ntheir child\u2019s physical, educational and emotional needs, and engage in verbal,<br \/>\nphysical, or psychological abuse. They\u2019re also more irritable and have<br \/>\nrecurring thoughts of abandoning their families. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Self-Care<br \/>\nis Child Care<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since parental burnout can be harmful to the<br \/>\nchildren, any activity that allows parents to recharge their batteries and<br \/>\navoid exhaustion should be viewed to be part of child care. In fact, the best<br \/>\nway to avoid becoming a \u201cbad parent\u201d is to take care of yourself. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Strategies<br \/>\nto Avoid Parental Burnout<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Get Out and About<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Every now and then, you need a break from the<br \/>\nphysical and emotional job of parenting. Let someone else handle things at home<br \/>\nfor a day so you can enjoy guilt-free time for yourself.<\/p>\n<p>One way to do this is by taking turns caring for the kids on the weekends for a block of time so you and your partner can each have quiet time to yourselves. <\/p>\n<p>You can also hire a babysitter or trade nights of babysitting with other parents so that you can spend time alone as a couple. If all else fails, try to meet up for lunch in the middle of the workday when the kids are at school, assuming they\u2019re in school (hello pre-k!).\u00a0 <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Work Out<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You need to take care of yourself to take care<br \/>\nof your family. Exercise is one of the best ways to take care of your physical<br \/>\nhealth. It releases feel-good hormones, boosts mood, and relieves tension. <\/p>\n<p>A 30-minute workout three times a week can decrease<br \/>\nanxiety, including parental anxiety, by up to 70%! <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Maintain Social Relationships<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Parenting can be isolating; many parents lose<br \/>\ntouch with friends, family and activities outside of the home. However, social<br \/>\nand emotional health are just as important as physical health. <\/p>\n<p>Plan social activities with people who care about you, including friends who have no connection to your child! <\/p>\n<p>Also, make time for activities and hobbies that you enjoy such as painting, reading, going to the movies, etc.  <\/p>\n<p>If you have a hard time taking a break from parenting without feeling guilty, think of self-care as building up your energy reserves, and also as a way to become a much better parent, so you have more (much more) to give to your child.  <\/p>\n<span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parenting is demanding, especially when you have more than one kid because then you\u2019re outnumbered! Raising healthy, happy kids is hard enough by itself but when you add all of your other responsibilities to the mix, life can become overwhelming pretty fast. \u00a0 Even so, parents rarely admit when they\u2019re struggling or feeling overwhelmed because&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1549,285],"aware":[1755],"class_list":["post-6335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all","tag-burnout","tag-parenting","aware-relationships"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Parental Burnout: Why Self-Care is Child Care - Lifestyle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Parental Burnout: Why Self-Care is Child Care - Lifestyle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Parenting is demanding, especially when you have more than one kid because then you\u2019re outnumbered! Raising healthy, happy kids is hard enough by itself but when you add all of your other responsibilities to the mix, life can become overwhelming pretty fast. \u00a0 Even so, parents rarely admit when they\u2019re struggling or feeling overwhelmed because...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lifestyle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-31T22:30:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-05-19T16:10:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/humphrey-muleba-jrOPyEXA8DE-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynell LaMountain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynell LaMountain\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynell LaMountain\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#\/schema\/person\/cfdae19a482b883c3b074ccd2f5e79c6\"},\"headline\":\"Parental Burnout: Why Self-Care is Child Care\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-31T22:30:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-19T16:10:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/\"},\"wordCount\":505,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/humphrey-muleba-jrOPyEXA8DE-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Burnout\",\"parenting\"],\"articleSection\":[\"All\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/\",\"name\":\"Parental Burnout: Why Self-Care is Child Care - Lifestyle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/humphrey-muleba-jrOPyEXA8DE-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-31T22:30:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-05-19T16:10:54+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/humphrey-muleba-jrOPyEXA8DE-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/humphrey-muleba-jrOPyEXA8DE-unsplash-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":1707,\"height\":2560},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Parental Burnout: Why Self-Care is Child Care\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/\",\"name\":\"Lifestyle\",\"description\":\"Mind Body Soul\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Lifestyle.org\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo-mark.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo-mark.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Lifestyle.org\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#\/schema\/person\/cfdae19a482b883c3b074ccd2f5e79c6\",\"name\":\"Lynell LaMountain\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42173dc931ff4191976669136813ca426dc46417af153c19585503016d313214?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42173dc931ff4191976669136813ca426dc46417af153c19585503016d313214?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynell LaMountain\"},\"description\":\"Lynell LaMountain co-hosts Life Style Magazine, a weekly syndicated television show that averages three million viewers. Lynell is a published writer, professional speaker, coach. His areas of expertise are decision making, relationships and outlook.\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Parental Burnout: Why Self-Care is Child Care - Lifestyle","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Parental Burnout: Why Self-Care is Child Care - Lifestyle","og_description":"Parenting is demanding, especially when you have more than one kid because then you\u2019re outnumbered! Raising healthy, happy kids is hard enough by itself but when you add all of your other responsibilities to the mix, life can become overwhelming pretty fast. \u00a0 Even so, parents rarely admit when they\u2019re struggling or feeling overwhelmed because...","og_url":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/","og_site_name":"Lifestyle","article_published_time":"2019-10-31T22:30:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-05-19T16:10:54+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1707,"height":2560,"url":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/humphrey-muleba-jrOPyEXA8DE-unsplash-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynell LaMountain","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynell LaMountain","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynell LaMountain","@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#\/schema\/person\/cfdae19a482b883c3b074ccd2f5e79c6"},"headline":"Parental Burnout: Why Self-Care is Child Care","datePublished":"2019-10-31T22:30:02+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-19T16:10:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/"},"wordCount":505,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/humphrey-muleba-jrOPyEXA8DE-unsplash-scaled.jpg","keywords":["Burnout","parenting"],"articleSection":["All"],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/","url":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/","name":"Parental Burnout: Why Self-Care is Child Care - Lifestyle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/humphrey-muleba-jrOPyEXA8DE-unsplash-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2019-10-31T22:30:02+00:00","dateModified":"2023-05-19T16:10:54+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/humphrey-muleba-jrOPyEXA8DE-unsplash-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/humphrey-muleba-jrOPyEXA8DE-unsplash-scaled.jpg","width":1707,"height":2560},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/parental-burnout-why-self-care-is-child-care\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Parental Burnout: Why Self-Care is Child Care"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/","name":"Lifestyle","description":"Mind Body Soul","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#organization","name":"Lifestyle.org","url":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo-mark.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/cropped-logo-mark.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Lifestyle.org"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#\/schema\/person\/cfdae19a482b883c3b074ccd2f5e79c6","name":"Lynell LaMountain","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42173dc931ff4191976669136813ca426dc46417af153c19585503016d313214?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42173dc931ff4191976669136813ca426dc46417af153c19585503016d313214?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynell LaMountain"},"description":"Lynell LaMountain co-hosts Life Style Magazine, a weekly syndicated television show that averages three million viewers. Lynell is a published writer, professional speaker, coach. His areas of expertise are decision making, relationships and outlook."}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/humphrey-muleba-jrOPyEXA8DE-unsplash-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6582,"href":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6335\/revisions\/6582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6335"},{"taxonomy":"aware","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifestyle.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aware?post=6335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}