How stressed parents can find free time and best use it, from thinking in smaller chunks to prioritising friends
- With today’s intense parenting styles, many couples struggle to find free time for themselves
- Author Rachel Bertsche says parental free time should be a priority and gives five tips on finding it and making the most of it
The holidays are over (barely), so it’s time for a little self-congratulation: you got the gifts, you did the decorating, you entertained the family, you attended the concert, you baked cookies with the kids, you flirted with your spouse … give yourself a high-five!
And please, please give yourself a breather. Your health depends on it – not to mention your family’s well-being.
As stress and its costs to individuals and society come under increasing scrutiny, experts are lining up to point the finger at a burgeoning problem: the stress brought on by today’s intense parenting styles.
“We live in an age of intensive parenting,” says American author Rachel Bertsche, who has just penned The Kids Are in Bed: Finding Time for Yourself in the Chaos of Parenting. “And people feel, for many different reasons, all this pressure to be with their kids all the time and do the absolute most for them.”
Bertsche’s book, due out on January 7, is a practical, well-thought-out argument for a different approach – one in which parental free time is a priority.
“What I’m trying to say is that everyone benefits, parents as well as kids, when you take time to step away, refuel and take care of yourself,” she says.
