Mental Health Awareness Week 2024 will take place from 13 to 19 May, on the theme of “Movement: Moving more for our mental health”.
This week it’s Mental Health Awareness Week and we’re getting involved. Mental health is a word you hear so much more nowadays, and quite rightly, as there has never been a more important time to raise awareness of it and promote the importance of wellbeing.
This year’s theme is ‘Nature’ and as part of the theme, we are being encouraged to spend more time outdoors and embracing nature.
We’ve noticed a real change in us here at STAG HQ recently, there was a lot of saying ‘No’.
“No it’s raining darling”
“Maybe tomorrow, when the weather is better”
“Not today darling, you’ll get soaked”
“You can’t go outside, the garden’s too muddy, you’ll be filthy”……. and the list continued. Is it because I’m a bad mum? I don’t think so, it perhaps came with being a bit risk averse, well this is changing!
We watched a film recently called ‘Yes Day‘, it focussed around a family where the children were frustrated because mum said no to everything and they felt there was no fun or freedom. The mum was upset that she was always seen as such an authority figure and a party pooper, and sad because she recalled the days when she was younger, pre-children when she was a real go-getter. As a family they decided to have ‘Yes Day’, a day where the grown-ups have to say yes to everything. Watching the film made me realise just how much we say no, and while sometimes there is still a need to say no, there’s many times when it could be a yes.
What are we doing differently?
- We’re saying yes way more
- We’re not worrying about the mess, a messy house and garden is a sign of memories being made
- If I think there’s going to be a lot of mess, I’ll ask the kids to help us tidy, as a thank you for making the day extra fun
- If it’s dirty, we don’t stress, we can clean it, if it’s broken, we can fix it.
- If we open the curtains and it’s chucking it down, we grab the waterproofs and wellies, and get ourselves out there
- We’re exploring new spaces. While we have some super places right on our doorstop, we’re searching out new places, this started with a tour of local parks.
- We don’t just walk outdoors, we explore the outdoors, we discuss what we see, we take photos, we make things using the items we find, and most importantly, we look up, we look up and appreciate the things we so often miss when we’re rushing around
- We write about what we’ve done in a daily diary, so we’ll always have memories of the fun times we made as a family
- We’re less stressed, the kids go straight to sleep as they’re tired after a fun day out, rather than wide awake after an afternoon just sat in front of the telly
- We hear them telling friends and family how much fun they’ve had, and then we realise just how much that time has meant to them.
- We’ve stopped caring about the work that hasn’t been done, the loads of washing that haven’t been put on, the pile of ironing that remains in the basket, they’ll be another time for that, but for now, I’m playing with my babies, because before long, my babies will all be grown up, they’ll be no little wellies by the front door, no little dirty handprints down the staircase wall, no sandpit in the garden, no scooter by the back door, and life won’t quite be the same. If this year has taught us anything, it’s about love, family and friendships, about quality time spent together. Life is never a given, so we’ve decided to stop worrying about tomorrow, and to live for today. I hope that one day when we’re older, our kids will come visit us for dinner and they’ll share all the wonderful memories they made in this house, of all the times that mummy and daddy said ‘Yes’
Read more……
Mental Health Awareness Week resources from the Mental Health Foundation
