If you have a new parent in your life, especially if you have been there yourself, take some time today to help them along their parenting path. Newly minted parents need support and grace from others as they navigate this new territory with awe and occasional frustrations. Here are some helpful ideas for offering aid to those with a new family member so they can continue to be their best selves.
Pay for Housekeeping Services
Giving the gift of housekeeping services will be money well spent by saving new parents time better spent with their baby. You can give them one light or deep cleaning as needed. Another option is to offer them a thoughtful gift of monthly house cleaning since the first few months of caring for a newborn leave time for little else.
Contact the professional staff at https://highlandparkhousekeeping.com/frisco-housekeeping/ to get started. Go online to give an e-gift certificate to send immediately or at a scheduled time. With this gift, they can book the cleaning to make their lives easier.
Offer Pet Care
If you have a way with animals and already have a connection with the new family’s pet, offer to give them some respite from animal duty. Find out Fido’s schedule and arrive just in time for an energy-reducing morning run. Perhaps you live close by and can take an evening walk, too.
Changing cat or hamster litter will be a big help as these seemingly small tasks sometimes get moved down the list of priorities as life with a new baby takes over but are still important. Check on their food, treat, and litter supplies while you are there and offer to replenish as needed.
Additional Helpful Tasks
There are many ways you can be of service and provide support after a baby is born. Here are a few more to consider:
- Provide laundry services
- Pick up, order, clean, and put away groceries.
- Gift a meal service.
- Organize and coordinate a meal delivery amongst friends and family.
- Maintain the yard.
- Drive the parents around if they are unable to (i.e. after a Cesarean Section).
If you know someone who has welcomed another child into their life many years after their first one arrived. The older child may need some extra attention from you, the doting friend. Or you can watch the baby while the parent spends quality time with the older child.
Simply Be There
“Being there” for someone can mean many things to different people. Consider the new parent in your life. Try to find out what they really need at that moment. It may not be the same thing that a new parenting book or the latest blog will tell you they should have. Instead, what they need may be unique to them.
If you are a close friend, ask if the new parent would like you to stop by and spend time with them. Sometimes some adult conversation in the midst of entering into parenthood is more than welcome. Having a new child in their lives is undoubtedly amazing. Yet it is also a time of great transition that is not always as magical as movies would have you believe it to be.
Offer to sit with the new baby while one of the parents takes a shower. Allow them a moment or two to themselves afterward to just breathe and relax. As a new parent, tiny moments are precious and fleeting. Perhaps the parent can take a 30-minute nap for a quick refresh while the baby is in good hands.
Bringing home multiples or a baby with special needs will likely also bring feelings of being overwhelmed for the new family. Be mindful of what they are going through and offer an extra pair of hands where needed.
Another way to help is by asking the questions, “Are you ok?” or “What do you need to feel your best right now?” Those direct questions are likely to garner you an honest answer instead of asking, “How are you?” When your friend or family member answers your questions, take time to listen. Sometimes they do not need anything tangible, only to be heard.
Here is a video discussing what parental burnout looks like and offers some tips on how to avoid it.
It takes a village to come together and support one another when babies come onto this earth. Helping each other along the way makes everything a little bit easier and a lot better.