Category Archives: Parenting

Going Healthy, Going Strong, Lifestyle, Parenting

Practical New Year Resolutions for Dads

01/06/2021 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

It is a brand-new year, and many people are looking forward to finally shaking off the effects of Covid-19. Lockdowns and extended time spent with the family has revealed so many things that we may have unconsciously overlooked. This year provides us with a clean slate to consciously do better in our relationships with family and our health. Here are some practical resolutions you can adopt this year.

Health

Exercise and workouts

The importance of your health cannot be overstated, and being in peak health is something you should aspire for and work towards. Simple exercises such as evening walks, pushups, and skipping rope are great. If you are a high-energy individual who works out, that’s even better. If you do not have a routine, create one and stick to it. You may occasionally switch it up if you feel the need to. If you want to create a routine to achieve a specific health goal but do not know how to, check out Openfit. They have an array of workout and fitness programs that will suit any need of yours.

Eating right

Lots of health-related issues can be traced back to the type of food you consume. Also, some illnesses can only be remedied by proper medication and eating right. Therefore, as a dad, you should make it a point to eat right. You shouldn’t consume everything you love, and in most cases, the consumption of such foods is not the paramount issue but rather the quantity and time at which it was eaten.

Make it a point to check your calorie intake to suit your body needs. Also, consider including more greens and fruits into your daily diets. If you can, stick to lean proteins and encourage your family to do the same. Though it may seem difficult at the start, try to be gradual and intentional, and you will eventually cut out most of what your body does not need. Creating a schedule or meal plan can help make this easy for you.

Regular medical checkups

Feeling right does not always mean that everything is right with you, health-wise. Therefore, going for regular checkups is a lifestyle you must cultivate. Regular checkups will reveal your true health status and will help you detect early signs of troubling health conditions. The early detection of such worrisome health conditions will aid in their successful treatment. So this year, make it a point to go for regular medical checkups.

Family

As a dad, your whole life revolves around your family. Every action and move you make is to ensure that your family is catered for and has the best of what you can afford. Therefore, it makes sense that you make money for the family and improve your relationships and bonding with them. Here is how you can strengthen the bond in your family.

Spend quality time with your spouse

With many unrelenting responsibilities on both sides, spouses may drift apart even when they live under the same roof. It is important to make and spend quality time with your spouse to keep the fire alive in your relationship. Spending time does not always require elaborate planning. It could be as simple as preparing the family dinner together and catching up on each other’s day. You could even plan a simple date night at home with wine and a good book you both love. Just make time for conversation, enjoy each other’s company, and crack some jokes to have your partner smiling. Remember why the two of you fell in love in the first place and carry on like teenagers.

Help with house chores

Helping around the house with chores is a great way to save your partner some time, and it serves as an opportunity to bond with them. Whether it is cooking, cleaning, doing the dishes, or anything else, be present and lend a helping hand. If possible, do it by yourself if you are adept at it. Also, make it a point to learn how to do basic chores around the house if it is not something you are used to. Helping out in this way will reduce the stress on your spouse and put smiles on their face all day long.

Surprise gifts

As men, we know how much our wives love to be surprised. But in most cases, it is not much of a surprise as they happen on occasions and are to be expected. In the true sense of the phrase, learn to surprise her with gifts on days that are not occasions. Make it random and just pull a surprise and watch her face light up. Surprise gifts do not need to cost much; remember that in such cases, the thought is more important than the gift itself. It could be a book she loves, a night out, a new gadget or device, or a fashion accessory she may have mentioned.

Give her time

You may have experienced your spouse complain about not having enough me-time for themselves. This year try your possible best to keep such complaints from recurring by gifting them time. Take the kids out to have some fun and let her have enough time to do something nice for herself, like getting her nails or hair done. She may also take the time to read her favorite book, watch movies, or catch up with her friends. Do this as often as you can, and she will thank you for it.

Spend time outdoors with the kids

Kids love to have fun, and they are almost always on the move and making a pretty mess of anything they can lay their hands on. Spend time bonding with your kids by taking them outdoors. Kids of today are rather much glued to their devices and gaming consoles. Try your best to get them to drop their devices by engaging them in interesting activities outdoors.

Have fun activities with them outdoors, such as jumping on a trampoline, mastering that 3-point shot, or how to swing a bat properly. You can also consider taking them out to the mall to watch their favorite cartoon in a cinema with ice-cream and popcorn. Bonding with your kids in such a manner will introduce you to traits they possess that you may not have noticed. Use this opportunity to also work on those traits; if they are good, polish them. And if they are bad, teach them why it is bad and work with them on changing.

Create hobbies

Another awesome way to bond with your kids is to create a hobby and do it together. Study your children and see what they are good at and then transform that into a hobby. You will not only be spending quality time with them and having fun, but you will also be honing that hobby into a craft that may pay off later in their lives. Such hobbies could include painting, learning a new language, or even coding.

Self-improvement

You need to improve yourself in every department by learning and growing. Review your life, capabilities, and attitudes and find areas in which you may be lacking and make an effort to improve on them. Here are a few ideas.

DIY

Being handy around the house is pretty useful and can mitigate some expenses. If this sounds like a good idea, then consider watching some DIY tutorials on YouTube. There are several DIY channels to choose from based on what you want to learn. The top three things to consider learning first are basic plumbing, insulating the home, and fixing basic appliances. These are amongst the frequent issues people face that require the help of handymen and are beneficial skills to have.

Read more

Knowledge is vast and never-ending, and in this modern age of internet and technology, you may find out that knowledge is also constantly changing. What you knew to be the fact some years back may no longer be so. Therefore, take some time out to read and research information that may be vital to you. It may be work-related or just something that interests you. Keep abreast with the times and let them guide you in your dealings and decision-making.

Reach out to friends and family

Covid-19 may have created a chasm between friends and family due to the numerous restrictions and protocols. This year, make it a point to reach out to colleagues, friends, and members of your extended family that you may not have interacted much with. Whether you decide to do so over the phone, virtually by video calling, or meeting in person, be sure to have a good time and make good memories. If you are meeting in person, make sure you follow all the protocols to keep you and your family safe.

This is a new year full of possibilities, so choose to be better. Start by placing premium value on your family while making sure that you are the best version of yourself.

Going Healthy, Health, Life, Parenting

Some Effective Stress Relievers for Dads

12/24/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

“Dads are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventures, story-tellers, and singers of song.”

Pam Brown

People often compare motherhood and fatherhood while making remarks like ‘fatherhood is easier than motherhood.’ But when you wake up to the realities, you realize the struggle behind both the journeys. From looking into the professional life to wisely handling the personal life, fathers remain equipped with a lot of hassle and tensions.

It won’t be wrong to refer to them as an individual bringing a perfect balance in the family while not hampering the financial state of the family. These factors often make fathers feel stressed, always occupied, and disturbed while juggling between responsibilities. Although they have the most exacting burden to deal with, that doesn’t mean they can’t relish relaxation, at least for a day.

If you are a dad who has been finding it challenging to deal with the increased workload and personal life stress, then look upon these fun ideas to bring some relaxation and happiness in your life.

What makes fathers happy?

At times, people often say that spending some good time with family and kids often makes a father forget every worry. But let’s face it. This remains until the children aren’t involved with their respective friend circles. With time, things and priorities change. While most of the children turn towards their friends from their fathers, it leaves them feeling depressed.

Here is how to bring a smile on a dad’s face-

Yoga sessions – People live in a typical stigma that yoga is meant for a flexible body; therefore, men do not require it. First, yoga is not restricted to giving one a flexible body and second, it targets a body, not a gender. So, look for a yoga session to soothe your mind while attaining a better concentration level. This will help you remain active and productive at your work and personal life too.

CBD – Where most of the people have been looking upon CBD (also referred to as cannabidiol and cannabis) with doubtful eyes, it shows some impeccable results on human beings and pets. A decent and right dosage of cannabis can help to reduce stress levels while strengthening the immune system. CBD can be consumed in multiple forms including – edibles, tinctures, oil, smoke, vape, etc. When consumed in the form of vaping or dabbing, people often prefer to buy a dab rig or pipe that enhances the experience. If you are considering smoking or vape cannabis, make sure to start with a small amount to adjust with its impact and taste. Similarly to this, you can also look into delta 8 vape carts which do contain small amounts of THC, but not enough to give you that high feeling. They have been said to be effective for stress relief, but it’s up to you whether you are comfortable taking this kind of product as it’s not for everyone.

The bottom line –

Stress is a common health issue for both mother and father. This makes it important for them to understand the value of a peaceful mind to lead a happy and progressive life. Generally, people pay concern towards new mothers while considering fatherhood as an easier journey to continue. But only waking up to the harsh world lets people see the challenges and struggles a new father bears. Therefore, pay attention to how your fathers’ feel and cheer them up with above-mentioned ideas.

Going Healthy, Health, Life, Parenting

Keeping Your Family Healthy and Well

12/18/2020 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

family, health, covid, virus, corona, parenting, wellbeing, healthy — **Image Source**

2020 hasn’t been the best year for many of us. The coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic has caused stress and wrought chaos throughout the past months and many of us are pretty concerned when it comes to maintaining our families’ health and wellbeing. Not only are we concerned on a physical level – as nobody wants to contract the virus – but we are also concerned on a level associated with mental health and wellbeing. Isolation is proving pretty difficult for many of us. But what can you do to maximise your family’s overall wellbeing during these times? Here are some suggestions to help guide you along the way!

Follow Covid Guidelines

Perhaps one of the most important things you should be doing right now is following the coronavirus and Covid-19 restrictions being laid out by your government. Why? Well, these measures are being specifically put in place to slow the spread of the virus and to keep you and your family – included in the general world population – as safe as possible. Sure, it may feel difficult playing by the rules all the time. Staying home isn’t the most fun and after months of this situation, many of us are craving seeing people who are not inside our bubble. But at the end of the day, the sooner we all comply with these restrictions, the sooner this will all resolve and pass. Some general advice includes:

Avoid spending time in public as much as possible
Wear masks when in public
Make sure everyone washes their hands regularly
Avoid touching things in public spaces
Stay two metres away from others who don’t live with you
Carry hand sanitiser for use outside of the home

Keep Up With Routine Health Appointments

If your family is asked to attend routine health appointments, it’s still important to attend them. They’re designed to check in on your health so that medical intervention can take place if necessary. Some routine checks could include a visit to the optometrist, a dental checkup, a smear test, a prostate check, routine vaccinations or other health appointments that will vary depending on you and your family members’ sex, age and other factors.

As mentioned earlier, going for a routine medical examination can also include regular visits to dentists and other healthcare professionals, even when you feel there’s no reason to do so. Such regular examinations can help identify potential health issues before they become problematic. This way, your healthcare expert will be in a better position to offer immediate treatment or prevent the condition from occurring. How often you visit your healthcare provider will depend on which area of your health. That said, going for medical examinations at least once a year should be more than enough in most cases.

Routine health appointments cannot only keep you physically healthy, but they can also promote your mental health. Once you attend a specific appointment, you may have to worry less, leading to a stress-free life. And if the health of your family members is in check, as a parent, this can significantly impact your mental state.

Health appointments will go a long way in promoting a healthy lifestyle. For instance, a dental check-up with Zuroff Orthodontic Care will not only promote your teeth’ health, but it can boost your confidence. Going for a scan can help detect the presence of cancerous cells. This can enable you to get the proper treatment and ultimately put you in a better mental state. It can also allow you to prepare yourself financially and also have every family member on board.

There is no limit to how you can benefit from regular health checks. Therefore, ensure you make it a habit never to skip them.

Keep Spirits Up

It can be easy to begin to feel down or struggle during these times. But where possible, do what you can to keep spirits up. Think about it. You and your family at least get to be together during these times. Some people are living completely alone. You can keep spirits up in a number of ways. Cook great meals. Bake together. Watch films. Decorate the house. Pick up hobbies. Exercise together indoors. Use video chat to keep in touch with others. While we may be leading more limited lives than before, there are a number of things you can do to keep yourselves entertained.

Sure, times are difficult. But hopefully, you and your family will pull through okay. The above advice could help to make the upcoming months a little easier, so why not try them out?