Ren Parenting

A weekend reminder for our parents and caregivers 🫶

Exploring nature with your little one is a great way to develop your child's independence, curiosity, creativity, problem solving and more. It's also been found to help safeguard their mental health; Research shows that children who grow up with higher levels of green space, have a much lower risk of developing mental health issues in adolescence and adulthood (Engemann et al, 2019).

What's more, children get cognitive, emotional and social benefits as a result of spending time in nature. This includes increased ability to concentrate, improved academic performance, reduced levels of stress and aggression, better motor coordination and improved social skills (Strife & Downey, 2009).

Looking for an activity to do with your little one that's jam-packed with developmental benefits and doesn't cost a cent? We've got just the thing.

Yes! Unfortunately loads of research continues to show that screen time does affect our kids' sleep. The good news is...if we reduce or limit their screen time before bedtime by at least 1 hour and avoid using screens in bed it can help them fall asleep easier, and get a good night's sleep too!

Knowing the benefits of apologizing to our children can help give us the 'why' and therefore the motivation to say sorry when we've made a mistake. Yes we are human, so as parents we all make mistakes! At these times, we have the opportunity to apologize to our kids to repair our relationship, and we both benefit now and in the long run.

�Another pro of apologizing to our kids is it's actually the quickest and most affective way to teach our children how to apologize themselves.

Recently, we talked about what the mental load is, here we focus on how the mental load impacts us and who it affects.

There are several long-term benefits of sharing the mental load which can help explain why sharing/reducing it is so beneficial for the whole family:

-Prevents burnout and lets you meet your own needs
-Allows all caregivers to bond with their little one and build a secure relationship with them
-Reduces stress and conflict, which can improve your relationships
-Kids show higher social and emotional abilities: being able to relate better to others and having more empathy and compassion (Kwon, 2013)
-Kids are less likely to receive contrasting messages or be involved in parent conflict
-Helps the person who is the manager role in your household to feel more capable of handling the everyday fatigue and stress of parenting
-More space to be a connected, warm, and engaged parent, which promotes secure attachment with your little ones.