Are you wondering about ways to encourage and support the parents in your lives? Especially those with little ones? Or maybe the parents who have become stay-at-home or homeschooling parents out of necessity rather than choice thanks to this wild year.
Here are some ideas to get you started!
For friends you know very well –
If you’re familiar with the 5 love languages, I think this is the group who needs the acts of service from you. How can you take action to create time for rest and refueling for them?
Watch their kids – if you’re close enough to this friend that they would be comfortable putting their kids in your care, this is it. What parent couldn’t use even an hour to clean a mess, take a nap, grocery shop? This is invaluable to parents and often something they’re in need of but may not feel comfortable to ask.
Provide a meal – this could happen in so many ways. Maybe you cook them a homemade meal and deliver. Maybe you email a gift card to their favorite restaurant. And there’s always the gift of setting up a meal train for brand new parents – but who says those are just for the newborn phase? If you know a family that’s in need of encouragement, get your friend group or Bible study group together and cover their meals for a week.
Do a chore – this is where knowing your friend well comes back into play. Do they need leaves raked, dishes cleaned, or errands run? Ask if you can help. Maybe offer by saying you’d love to give them an hour or two of work and they can come up with the tasks you’ll do. Or maybe you’ll be that extra pair of hands to help the work go twice as fast and keep them company while you work together.
For acquaintances –
Send a gift – the sky is the limit here. What do you know about this caregiver that could clue you in on what they would enjoy receiving? Do you always see them with a cup of coffee? Send them a cute mug or a gift card to a coffee shop! Do they love books? Send them your most recent favorite read. When in doubt, a good spa gift is a good go-to, like this charcoal mask that has already lasted me months of use:
Write a letter – I absolutely love getting snail mail (that isn’t a bill!) and get so excited each time I get a card in the mail. Find a cute card, tell that parent what you admire about their parenting, encourage them, and make someone’s day!
For that new friend, social media acquaintance, or complete stranger! –
Words of affirmation is the love language category I see fitting well with this group. You don’t have to know someone well or have the financial means to speak encouragement.
Words of affirmation – when you see something great, comment on it and let that person know they’re crushing it. Take a couple minutes to lift them up with genuine
A listening ear – when someone is having a challenging time or is experiencing a new stage of life, sometimes they would most benefit from an empathetic, listening ear. Listen without the intent to fix them or make them feel guilty or less than. Listen and see if you can relate to what they’re working through.
Romans 15:2 says “Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up.”
And in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 we are told, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
Encouraging others is a way we can demonstrate love, showing to others the love that God has first shown to us. Have fun and leave a comment of others ways to show love to parents and caregivers of littles or of ways you plan to show love and make space for rest for others!