Just like grown-ups, kids can easily get
caught up in the things that go wrong or in
their worries about that upcoming math test
or swim meet. To ward off these negative
thoughts, have your child take a few minutes
each evening to tell you three things they are
grateful for and three things that made them
proud of themselves.

“It’s best to do it at the end of the day
because it gives kids an opportunity to reflect
on the day in a positive way, which will help
them sleep better,” says Rachel Noble, a
licensed professional counselor with the
INOVA Health System. “And it’s important
for parents to take part in it as well.”
Noble also suggests hanging a clothespin
line down a long hallway or across a wall.

Each day when the kids get home from
school—or log out of Zoom—have them
hang up one thing they’re proud of, such as
artwork, an award they received or a piece of
writing. You’ll be surprised that the things
14 Washington FAMILY DECEMBER 2020
they choose won’t always be the same ones
you would have chosen.

Get a better night’s sleep
Sufficient sleep can greatly improve
cognitive performance, alertness and
attention, learning, memory and mood. But
according to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), more than one-third
of adults, 60% of middle schoolers and 70%
of high-school students don’t get enough
sleep at night.

The National Sleep Foundation
recommends seven to nine hours of sleep
per night for adults, eight to 10 hours per
night for teens and nine to 11 hours per night
for school-age children. Babies and younger
children need even more than that.

To ensure your family gets adequate
sleep, create calming bedtime routines, have
everyone disconnect from electronic devices
at least 30 minutes before bedtime, keep
bedrooms free from screens and try to make
HUGGING: NIKOLA ILIC / E+; SLEEPING: CHOREOGRAPH; JENGA: KATARZYNABIALASIEWICZ / ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS
Focus on gratitude



bedtime and wake time around the same
time every day—even on weekends.

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Carve out screen-free
family time
With work, school, sports and other
activities taking so much of our time and
attention, it can be difficult to steal away
quality time as a family. Schedule family
dinners, game nights or walks just like you
would anything else. Make it a rule that
during these activities, all cell phones and
electronic devices will go in a basket where
they cannot be seen or heard.

“Devices can be a fun part of who we are
and help us stay connected to others,” says
Noble. “But if we don’t create guardrails
around them, we won’t be able to connect
with the people right in front of us.”
To get your kids to open up during family
time, ask plenty of open-ended questions.

Rakelle Mullenix, a mother of two in
Annandale, Virginia, has a jar full of fun
questions such as “If you could have one
superpower, what would it be?” and “What
is something you know how to do that
you could teach others?” Her family takes
turns pulling questions from the jar and
answering them out loud. “Every so often,
we change the questions to suit our current
life,” she says.

Eat the rainbow
We all know by now that we should eat fewer
processed foods and more fruits and vegeta-
bles. Elizabeth Owens, a certified nutrition
specialist in Burke, Virginia, and owner of
Wellness With Elizabeth, says a great way for
families to do that is to increase the amount of
colors they eat through fruits and vegetables.

“Fruits and vegetables get their colors
from phytonutrients, chemicals that provide
antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits,”
Owens says. “A good goal for families would
be to eat one to two servings of each color
each day.”
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