There are those days as a parent when you know you are not going to make it out of the house. Whether you have a poorly child, you are all tired from a sleepless night, the weather is awful or you are tackling a challenging parenting phase and would rather do so in the comfort of your own home. We have all been there, and it can feel isolating. Which is why today I am sharing 3 ways to connect with parents without leaving your home.
Online communities can be so handy for saving our sanity and providing us with useful information. A busy community will be a hive of activity so there will always be someone on hand to answer your questions, and in most cases you only need to search for something and it will be a question that has already been asked before.
Whether you want to know about gymnastics & ninja classes for kids in Leeds, days out for toddlers in Bristol, or the best schools in Birmingham, online communities will always have you covered.
There will be a variety of opinions offered so you will need to wade through those, but it should give you a good place to start and point you in the right direction.
Social media can be a great help as a parent, but be warned as it can also come with a few problems.
Twitter is fun and chatty and moves very quickly. You can share your thoughts and questions there and connect with people globally in an instant. Pinterest is a fantastic resource for ideas and advice on pretty much everything that you can think of. From activities to do with a preschooler to getting your kids to eat anything, it will all be there for you.
Instagram can be pretty and by using hashtags you can connect with like-minded people all over the world, sure to raise a smile from you each day and offer up inspiration.Just remember not to get sucked into believing everything you see and read. This is often not an intentional misrepresentation, it is simply that people tend to share the happy bits, the highlights of their lives on social media so things always look rosier than reality. People do not tend to share a snap of themselves yelling at the children for the umpteenth time that day, not to be disingenuous, simply because why would they do that!
This is going to be loudest and messiest of our three options but hosting a playdate is also the most enjoyable.
Getting to spend some time chatting with a friend whilst your children play instantly banishes any feelings of isolation. Just an hour with a cup of tea can help you to set the world to rights and can help you put into perspective any parenting niggles you have been having. Your children will have a brilliant time too, so this is a win all round.
Tidy up time can be a challenge, but make it into a game and remember that it was all worth it for that friendly face.
*Collaborative post