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So, having kids and a husband and a house to run can be quite demanding, well, very demanding actually. I love my life, my kids, my hubby and my extended family but I will never not miss the times I could just come home from work and put my feet up, eat my tea, do a bit of work and then chill out, or just come home and straight up chill out. It’s because of this and the way I miss just chilling out sometimes that I figured I’d try and come up with some different ways to unwind, but with the family and kids about.

Relaxing

I’ve found, as I’m sure millions of other parents have, that being a parent, as rewarding as it is, can be mega stressful. When I get stressed, I tend to tense up big time. Now this particular title may seem a bit odd to be jumping into considering the whole post is about unwinding and relaxing is about as obvious as it gets but bear with me.

When I say relax, I mean be more relaxed around you children. It’s rare that your kids will behave in a way that mixes perfectly with your current state whether that be standard you or emotional you. A good way to ensure that you stay relaxed around your kids is to set broad, non-negotiable limits and then let your children have a free run within those limits. At times, they’ll do stuff that is within the limits but it may make you easy or they may be pushing their limits and that’s when I just breathe and smile.

This is something that I always find helps me to relax and always make me feel a bit more at ease and also it reminds me actually that I’m blessed to have my own children. I find though that if I act more relaxed around my kids that they tend to pick up on that a little and they tend not to get as rowdy as usual, but of course that could just be me overthinking things.

Exercising

This is something that I find helps me massively. I only manage to get out twice a week at the minute but going out for a run and bringing the kids with me on their bikes is a great way to relax. Don’t get me wrong, when I’m running on the pavement by the road and they’re on their bikes, it does get a little hairy at times as they get a little too close to the passing cars but it’s good for us all to get out and get some fresh air and we don’t spend too much time on the pavements, we just head straight to the park and I run laps of that and it gives the kids a bit of freedom to ride out in front of me.

This time out of the house is good for all of us, I put my headphones in on a low volume when we get to the park and the twenty to thirty minutes or so that we’re there, I have that time to just unwind, listen to some relaxing music and clear my head which helps me to relax and generally by the time we get home, my other half is back and he takes over the kids for an hour or so while I go and have a bath and generally (barring the odd time) when I come back downstairs, they’re ready for bed and are quite relaxed themselves. Exercising is a massive help to me, no question.

Take a Mental Holiday

This is something that I have been doing quite a bit recently. I get dead tense when negative things crop into my head and I find that I start to stress even more and over think things and I find that if I do the opposite and think good things it helps me massively.

I prepare to go on this mental “holiday” by taking a few deep breaths and when I’m ready and calm (or calmer than I was), I close my eyes and imagine I’m somewhere that I enjoy being or would love to be right at that moment. It’s a bit more than just imagining it though, I try to fully experience this moment in my head, I see the sights all around me, hear the sounds and feel the place that I’m in, in my head. I try to allow myself a good ten to fifteen minutes for this exercise and once I’m finished, I feel a lot more relaxed than before I went on my “holiday”.

Family Days Out

This may seem a little odd to include in this list but it’s a good way for the whole family to get out and relax together. These only tend to happen at the weekend or during school holidays but they do work when we’ve all been out somewhere together. There’s loads of good days out with the kids that can be had in the UK. One of my favorites is playing badminton with the kids. From Blackpool Pleasure Beach to one of the various Go Ape sites dotted around the country, there’s plenty of choices.