When you’re a parent, you never get to take a day off. While those with other jobs can call in sick for work or take leave when they’re sick or hurt, if you’re a mom or dad, you simply don’t have that luxury available to you. Your family will always need you, whether you’re healthy or not. So if you have become injured and are nursing a broken bone, you might need a little help to keep up with the normal demands of your family life. To assist you with this, here are three tips that can help make life easier when you’re parenting with a broken bone.
Adjust Your Expectations
One of the very first things you should do, both for yourself and for your family, if you have a broken bone or are otherwise incapacitated, according to Ruben Castaneda, a contributor to U.S. News and World Report, is to adjust your expectations. While you might have been able to keep your house relatively clean and cook delicious meals for your family each and every day when you were healthy, some of these things are going to have to get pushed to the back burner. On some days, simply keeping everyone alive and happy is going to have to be enough for you. So while you might not enjoy the things that you’re going to have to overlook while you’re healing, they’ll all still be there once you get your cast taken off. Furthermore, if you want to improve and quicken your recovery, it could be wise to see an orthopedic at regular intervals, perhaps one available at a clinic similar to Direct Orthopedic Care. A professional can guide you and provide advice related to necessary supplements, eating habits, exercises, and more that can help you heal quickly.
Embrace Simple Meals
Even when you’re hurt, you and your family still have to eat. But if your injury makes it hard for you to stand in the kitchen and cook a meal or for you to comfortably do the actions required to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you’re going to have to just embrace simpler meal ideas. According to Brenda Conaway, a contributor to WebMD, try to stock up on freezer meals that are easy to throw in the oven or microwave. Additionally, get some snacks that are going to be easy for both you and your kids to eat without much assistance, like pre-washed and cut produce.
Find Ways Your Kids Can Help
Unless your kids can’t walk or talk yet, there are likely at least a few ways that you can enlist your children to help you throughout the day. According to Gina Shaw, a contributor to WebMD, letting your kids help you during this tough physical time can actually be very beneficial to them, helping them to learn compassion and allowing them to still feel important to you. Now, you don’t want to give them anything that’s too much for them to handle, but asking them to bring you things you need or take care of a few extra chores could be mutually beneficial for everyone at home.
If you’ve just suffered a broken bone and are worried about how you’ll be able to fulfill all your duties at home, consider using the tips mentioned above to help make this time a little easier for you.
