By: Natasha Archary
Parental burnout is real. In a survey of over 2 000 parents, in Belgium, researchers found that just as likely as it is to burnout from being overworked, moms and dads can burn out too.
The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, found that close to 13% of the parents surveyed, 12.9% of mothers and 11.6% of fathers, had what the researchers called “high burnout.”
Most parents today find the pressure to juggle it all insurmountable. It’s not easy raising a child and still function optimally at the office.
Parenting wellness
Mental health is a major factor. It’s just still one of those things we overlook as adults. As parents, a little more selflessly because the focus is on those little people we’re doing it all for. They make it all worth it. And yes, those clichéd parenting quips are semi-inspiring to a mom or dad who’s just pulled an all-nighter but we need to stop doing that.
We make it difficult for parents who are not coping to reach out and admit that they’re not. In other words, these parents felt exhausted, less productive and emotionally withdrawn for at least a week, but say nothing.
Take a night off
It may not solve all your parenting dilemmas but some time off can help. Taking a breather from the reality of overdue bills and figuring out this “adulting thing”, we also call life, may provide temporary solace.
Hand over the parenting baton at least once a week and focus that energy on yourself. Even if all it means is thirty minutes of uninterrupted time to take a bubble bath. Parents fail to understand that they cannot pour from a cup that has a crack in it.
This is profound because day in and day out, we selflessly give off ourselves to put our kids first, without stopping to check if we’re okay, emotionally, physically, mentally.
Also read: 7 Indoor fun activities for kids during loadshedding
