Ideas to Help Parents/Carers Stay Calm at Difficult Times

Here is a list of suggestions for ways to cope. They may not all appeal or be possible at a given time but are a “menu” of ideas which may be worth trying:

• Exercise, e.g. a walk or a swim
• Talk to a friend or colleague
• Make a cup of tea/coffee
• Deep breathing
• Count to ten
• At the end of the day, try to think of 3 good things (however small) that happened and 3 things you are looking forward to tomorrow
• Bath
• Massage
• Meditation/Yoga
• Laugh – watch a comedy
• Distractions such as listen to music/read a book