5 Ways Moms Can get a Better Nights Sleep
As a toddler mom myself, I know how difficult it can be to get a full night’s sleep, let alone a GOOD night’s sleep. With little ones around, sleep is in short supply and what you can get should be as peaceful as possible. To offset the daily chaos, here are five ways to get a better night’s sleep.
Put the Phone Down
Image Via Flickr By MNicoleM
Checking your email, or scrolling through Facebook or Instagram right before bed can be incredibly detrimental to our sleep patterns. Does that stop us? No. But it’s important to note that the blue light from your cell phone can severely impact our deep sleep and stimulate our brains, which causes us to wake up more tired than we were. Overstimulating ourselves by watching TV, checking emails, and scrolling social media tells the body that it is time to be awake, so put the electronics away.
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Write down your worries. Keeping a notebook next to the bed to jot your to-do list helps get those pesky reminders out of your head and onto paper so you can just relax. Meditation can be helpful here as well. Use it to breathe deep and clear your mind, readying your body for sleep.
Create a Sleeping Haven
Decluttering, or cleaning your space up, can really help create a calming atmosphere set up for sleep. Make sure the temperature is right for your sleep habits and that the air quality is clean and free of allergens. If the air smells musty, it might be time to have an HVAC professional come service your system and make any needed repairs and installations. This is probably not a time for DIY-ing your HVAC system, because you don’t want to take a chance on air quality.
Actively Changing Your Routine
Start by getting active during the day. Most moms’ daily routines and exercise plans go out the window with a small addition to the family. Staying active will help alleviate stress and tire your mind and body out. It’s a good idea to avoid afternoon caffeine infusions also, so as not to overstimulate yourself when it’s time for sleep. Try to go to sleep at the same time every day so your body learns when to start shutting down.
Invest in Your Sleep
It’s hard to admit it, but if all else fails, it could be time to invest in a new mattress. There is some amazing technology out there that wasn’t on the market when you bought your bed, you know, before kids, and could go a long way to helping get some shut-eye.
Sleep is necessary to live and recharges your mind and body, so it’s no surprise that sleep is so essential. Pinpointing WHY you can’t get enough sleep is a must. Following the above advice should help, but remember, if all else fails, put daddy on duty!
Where Do You Start When Picking A School For Your Child?
Your child’s education is so important because it opens up doors to them in later life and helps them to grow as a person. That is why choosing their school is one of the biggest parenting decisions that you have to make. It’s a very hard decision to make because there are a lot of different things that you need to consider. If you have a child that is nearing school age and it’s time to make that choice, these are some of the things that you need to think about.
Image From Pixabay CCO License
Location
The first thing that you need to consider is the location because you will be limited to schools that are within a reasonable distance to your home. However, it’s important that you don’t just choose the closest school possible because it might not be the best place for your child. At the same time, you can’t choose somewhere too far away because it may not be practical. It’s important that you find a school that is close enough that you can fit the school run into your schedule but also somewhere that is suitable for your child. Finding a balance between these two things can be tricky.
Consider Private Schools
A lot of parents only consider the local state schools, but that is a mistake. In a lot of cases, your child will get a better education at a private school, and they may be more affordable than you realize. It’s important that you consider your budget carefully and think about whether you can really afford it, but you should always look at all of your schooling options before you make a decision and don’t write private schools off straight away.
Ask About Their Relationship With Parents
As a parent, it’s important that you have an active role in your child’s education and you support their school. When you are looking around different institutions, ask about the relationship between schools and parents. If the school actively includes the parents in decisions and keeps them updated about any issues and developments in the school, that’s a good sign. But if the school does not include parents in a big way, that is a cause for concern.
Look At The Curriculum
The curriculum should give you a good idea of the teaching style that is used at the school and the different areas that they focus on. Firstly, you need to see whether they have a strong program of core subjects like English, Maths, and Science. Beyond that, consider what other courses they teach outside of the core subjects, and which of these courses you think will benefit your child the most. You should also consider the extra-curricular activities that your child can get involved with.
When you are asking these questions about the curriculum, you should always ask about the average grades of the students. You don’t always need to pick the school that has the best grade averages. However, you should avoid schools that have a low grade average in the core subjects.
These are all things that you should consider when choosing a school, but the most important thing to think about is your child, and where they will feel most comfortable and be able to learn effectively.
Tricks To Tackle The Summer Education Drought
As a parent you may not think too much about the summer education drought. However, it can be an issue, particularly if you are keen to ensure that your child reaches their full potential at school.
Basically, through the summer months kids are off school for weeks on end. Many will have virtually no educational experiences through this time. It’s fairly uncommon for teachers to set homework and even if they do, it’s usually completed at the last minute, or completely forgotten.
This is a problem because it means that when they eventually do return to the classroom, their minds are completely blank. All the knowledge they gained in the previous year has vanished. Now in some cases this can be useful but in others it’s a nightmare for teachers who feel like they are back to square one with a class. So, here are some of the ways to avoid the summer drought.
Educational Trips
Yes, you can think about booking in a few educational trips over the summer period. There are plenty of museums that make educating kids as fun as possible with great activities and adventures within the four walls. You can also think about going somewhere like Disney World and seeking out educational activities too. Believe it or not these do exist from Living With The Land in Epcot to the Carousel of Progress and much more. Each of these provides information that is fascinating and useful to children. Alternatively, how about just taking a trip to an art gallery and fueling their creative energy?
Summer School
When your kid starts to approach the age where they need to start thinking about college, summer school can be a useful option. Summer programs for high school students are designed to provide a deeper dive into some of the topics that they may be interested in. Attending a summer school will also look great when you apply for a college because it shows a willingness to go the extra mile. That’s important because a lot of kids will simply settle by doing the bare minimum. Summer schools can be fun too and a great way to develop social skills and get involved with different activities.
Set Mini Asignments
For younger children, you can consider setting little assignments for them to complete through the summer. This could include anything from writing about activities that they enjoyed on holiday or perhaps a short story. Anything like this is going to help them stretch their creative muscles. Alternatively, video games can also be useful, if they are the right type. There are many video games that involve problem solving which is useful for children when developing skills in critical thinking. You might want to research a few of these.
We hope this helps you understand some of the ways that you will be able to combat the summer drought. Do this and you can make sure that your kids are ready to start the school year as soon as they walk back into the classroom.
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