Ways to prevent the winter blues

Ways to prevent the winter blues

Prepare your child mentally and physically for the cold season

  

Fall season is already here and winter season is soon to come. The cold weather is known to bring out negative emotions in a person and sometimes causing health problems. The effects of winter can be difficult on a child, especially if they live in very harsh conditions. Children often become sick with the flu, allergies, ear infections, stomach viruses and possibly pneumonia.  When it’s cold out, their skin and eyes tend to become dry, they don’t receive enough exercise or may develop symptoms of depression. When children are in poor health, they miss days of school, they become cranky and unhappy. Also causing parents to miss days of work in order to stay home and care for them.  Parents tend to become cranky and unhappy as well, which cause a full circle of negative effects.

There’s nothing you can do about the weather, but there’s a lot you can do to keep your spirits up.

Being proactive in preparing your child for the winter season is smart and productive.  I understand how difficult it can be for parents to plan time for additional activities, outside of work and outside of taking care of the home.  However, parents should practice creating a schedule that will allow you to take extra care of yourself and your children.

Here are some ideas you can use to prevent the winter blues;

• Bundle up
• Get sunlight whenever possible
• Be physically active each day
• Get plenty of rest. Set a balanced bedtime for yourself and for your children
• Eat healthy
• Prepare meals in advance; such as baking, crock pot cooking and preparing meals for more than one day. This will allow more time for one on one interaction with your child
• Read a good book or write an ongoing story in a journal
• Use your time on the weekends to get organized
• Prepare school and work uniforms in advance, allowing more time for fun and relaxation
• Create fun activities to do indoors and outdoors
• Teach your child to wash hands often
• Don’t complain and
• SMILE

LaTanya Blackmon, Certified Professional Life Coach & Parent Coach

www.latanyablackmon.com