If we’re all in it together, healthy relationships will get us through in the best shape and leave lasting positive legacies. SFSC’s parenting strategy Special Time builds a child’s self-esteem and enhances the parent-child relationship. However, children in early childhood and family pets might be thrilled at having parents around full time during the imposed lockdown but teenagers and young adults in late childhood less so, nonetheless they will benefit from Special time just as much.
Teenagers natural inclination to spend time with their peers, to seek out pleasure, new frontiers and generally challenge authority may cause angst and frustration for all the family. Young children’s demands on your time, keeping them positively engaged maybe exhausting. Special Time may not have been a priority for some families, or simply too difficult to previously accommodate with other life stresses, but fortuitously, the order to stay at home presents an invaluable opportunity to embed/continue Special Time as a measure to manage behaviour, get through difficult times and build positive relationships now and for the future.
Special Time as a measure to manage behaviour, get through difficult times and build positive relationships now and for the future.
Special Time is beneficial to the overall wellbeing of parents and children of all ages. Our new normal during the coronavirus pandemic should incorporate Special Time with each child on a daily or weekly basis as we create schedules, build and stick to routines which all the evidence supports as beneficial to overall wellbeing too. Parents can use this time to allay concerns, answer direct questions about what is happing or may happen in the future.
Parents can use this time to give positive attention which may create more freedom for other day to day tasks outside Special Time including working from home as children become more self-disciplined and self-reliant. This window of time will give room to listen and share feelings without judgement, express confidence in children’s ability to cope and bounce back from adversity, support older children in complying with guidelines to keep themselves and other people safe while they may not understand the ramifications of their actions or simply feel invisible.
Children and their parent’s wellbeing is very much interdependent, new and challenging behaviours are natural responses to trying situations we find ourselves in. Investment in Special Time promotes the wellbeing of both children and their parents during difficult times and in the future.
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