Important advice from a doctor and mum.
As parents, we do things for our kids every day without really thinking about it including feeding them, playing with them, putting them to bed and that’s just for starters.
These are all tasks that go hand in hand with being a parent but a viral post from a family doctor based in the UK is giving us food for thought.
Stephanie Liu, a doctor (and mum), has received a lot of feedback from mums and dads after sharing her thoughts on the ten things she is ‘begging’ parents to do with their children every single day.
She is also keen to inform parents that content discussed on her Instagram account ‘is solely for informational purposes and not a substitute for informed medical advice’.
5 things a doctor is ‘begging’ parents to do
Stephanie Liu, who posts under the handle @lifeofdrmom, names the things she thinks all parents should try and do with their children every single day without fail.
See below for 5 of her tips and you can head over to her account to read more of her advice.
The first thing she recommends is 30 minutes of outside play every day. She says that unstructured outdoor play is essential for children and they need to run, jump, climb and fall to help build bone density and improve coordination. Stephanie also mentions the importance of unstructured play, saying that this practice helps with emotional self-regulation and social skills. She advises that like outside play, at least 30 minutes of unstructured play is recommended for kids every single day.
This one struck me as a mum to an 18-month-old toddler, nothing gives me greater joy than to see him look to play with his toys – chatting away to himself as he thumbs through books, races cars and tractors along the floor, or attempts to build blocks where inevitably his favourite part is knocking them down to start all over again.
It’s a joy to see him learn a new word or recognise a picture of an animal in a book and this is all coming from the ability to take part in unstructured play from a young age.
Another tip from this medical professional is to let your children get bored. Reminding parents that it’s not their job to ‘make everything easy’ she says that ‘boredom builds creativity and struggle builds resilience’.
The third nugget of advice from the Canada based doctor is to eat dinner with your children at the kitchen table phone free at least three times a week.
Stephanie references studies saying that ‘research consistently shows’ that this bonding exercise is beneficial for kids’ mental health and self-esteem. As part of this tip, she says that kids should help set the table and bring their dishes to the sink with this daily task helping to teach them responsibility and gratitude. She says that in her house, they started this practice when her kids were four years old.
Her final tip is to practice gratitude with your children – she says that this is a skill and it is taught through daily practice which we have to agree with. There’s a reason why gratitude journals have become so popular in recent times, and it is a practice that many adults swear by too.
As a doctor and parent, Stephanie believes that if the concept is introduced to children from a young age, it can help give them ‘greater life satisfaction’ as they grow.
What do you think of her advice? Are there any tips you would try with your own children, or do you already practice these at home?
