13. Your Kids Mental Health: How To Help Your Family Through The Hard Times

Isn't it crazy to think it has almost been one year since the world hit the pause button?

Much like the 911 attack, it seems like everyone remembers the exact moment when the country went on lockdown. In great detail, you could probably describe where you were, what you were doing, who you were with, and how it felt.

This week in the Smith house we have been thinking a lot about mental health. Not just for us as a couple, but for our kids too.

Recently, we came across a study that surveyed 350 children and they found that 70% percent of the children had experienced a deterioration of their mental health. This is not surprising with all of the changes that kids were thrust into in such a short amount of time. Think about it.

No in person school, no more hanging out with friends, no more sports, birthday parties, shopping in an actual store. Not to mention trying to balance the feeling of missing grandparents, but knowing that staying away is how to keep them safe.

Sure, you could say kids had it easy because they aren't worried about the market crash or the economy, but when you look at it from their perspective; their whole world changed and turned upside down.

Our point is, mental health and learning how to become resilient is a family affair.

In today's episode, we want to share with you the ways we are intentionally creating a family culture where everyone can talk about their thoughts, identify specific feelings, and emotions without fear of judgment. Plus, learn how to help each other, and kids keep a "can-do" attitude despite what the current circumstances may be.

As we say in our house, Smiths do hard things.

We know your family can too!

More of What We Talk About:

• How the pandemic is affecting children
• The importance of sharing feelings
• How talking about things immediately, can improve mental health
• Having open conversations with the whole family
• What you should be asking your kids every week
• Teaching our kids how to verbalize what they're feeling
• Creating a "no judgment" zone and why it matters
• The importance of communicating emotions to your spouse
• Leading by example
• How to teach your kids vulnerability
• The unexpected way knowing your family history can help with mental health
• And much more!

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Free course:

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Episode Minute By Minute:

• 0:42 Welcome to the show!
• 0:56 Why Melissa loves valentines day
• 1:23 Today's topic: Hope for the future
• 3:08 How the pandemic has affected children mental health around the world
• 5:02 Creating an environment of sharing
• 9:05 Using your parental intuition
• 10:00 One practical way to create a safe environment for your children to share their feelings
• 11:11 Modeling venerability to your kids
• 13:40 Restoring hope
• 16:26 The importance of taking a step back
• 18:05 Every family has a story
• 19:00 How your understanding your family history helps with mental health
• 22:29 Reminding yourself of who you really are