Bedtime is where you can have quality time with your kids, thus a parenting priority. A nurturing bedtime can accomplish much more than talking to your kids about what food to eat to stay healthy and to perform well in school.
According to Dr. Stephen Grant, parents do have the best of intentions whenever they create a bedtime routine as cited on Metro Parent. Bedtime may also be the best time for parents to address PTSD concerns, especially in today's time when people are living through collective PTSD with more trauma on the horizon.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), a psychiatric disorder, occurs right after the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events as cited on PTSD. Collective PTSD is real. Robert D. Stolorow's article is among those that talk about the reality of collective PTSD.
Often, parents hear about advices like making the choice of taking the high road. They are given choices of being compassionate, indifferent, being an upstander and so on.
Of course, parents perfectly know all about those choices. For parents, making flash decisions is more important than long-range life plans for their children. Grabbing your child by the arm or whatever is closest if he impulsively run into traffic. Those moments when your child is pushing all your buttons, however you opt to connect with him in a very loving relationship with caring boundaries rather than bad temper. This is definitely intuitive work. And such parenting obviously comes from the heart. There is not an available super-scheduler app which can replace that work for parents.
Today, even the most peaceful household is doing its best to manage the energy of free-floating anxiety above the more local anxieties accompanying parenting. Parents undoubtedly feel it, kids too. This anxiety spans across the neighborhood, even among strangers. The lightning of global anxieties and fears, without a doubt, can be catching.
This is the reason why 'bedtime' is undeniably the most significant priority for all parents as of this moment. Bedtime is that sacred time for parents to connect with their kids. Bedtime helps parents to re-affirm that kids are being cared for and loved by their parents as well as assuring their safety.
Bedtime does not simply involve the time to discuss the feelings that we are all having. Feeling those feelings, listening to your kids talk about them is rather important.
According to Dr. Laura Markham, bedtime is the best opportunity for parents to connect with their kids as cited on Huffington Post. Parents can have an intimate and quality time with their children during bedtime. Bedtime is the only time when we can naturally tap into our best selves, enabling us to have sweet dreams. Bedtime is that time when we can totally release the day in love and in gratitude, preparing us in the best possible way for a restorative sleep.
It should not take long. Connecting with your children during bedtime may come in the form of a prayer, reading a poem, or even a promise that they are loved, honored and protected. This is any parent's priority during bedtime.
