🎯 Redefining Self-Care as a Parent

đź’ˇ Overview

Self-care isn’t just spa days and bubble baths — it’s setting boundaries, meeting your basic needs, and reconnecting with yourself. As a parent, self-care might look smaller, messier, and more essential than ever before.

Self-care isn’t selfish — it’s survival.

🚫 Let’s Bust the Myths

What self-care isn’t:

  • Something you need to “earn”
  • Only for parents with extra time or money
  • A luxury reserved for when everything else is done
  • Always pretty, relaxing, or Instagram-worthy

What self-care is:

  • A daily practice of meeting your needs on purpose
  • A way to regulate your nervous system
  • A protective layer between you and burnout
  • How you model emotional resilience to your child

🔄 What It Looks Like in Real Life

Self-care might be:

  • Eating something before you're starving
  • Drinking water before the coffee
  • Turning your phone off for 10 minutes
  • Asking for help — or accepting it
  • Taking 5 deep breaths before walking into a tantrum
  • Saying no to a playdate because you’re wiped

🧩 Self-Care by Category

Type of Care
Simple Ideas
Emotional
Journaling for 5 minutes, naming your feeling, listening to music
Physical
Stretching, walking outside, taking a nap
Social
Voice texting a friend, joining a parent group, saying "I'm struggling"
Spiritual
Prayer, meditation, gratitude practice, sitting in stillness
Practical
Decluttering one drawer, planning meals, setting a boundary
Even 2–5 minutes of intentional care can shift your mood.

🛠️ Make It Doable

  • Start tiny: What can I do in 3 minutes or less?
  • Schedule self-care like any other priority
  • Build in small “anchor moments” throughout the day
  • Drop the guilt — especially if you were taught that rest = laziness

❤️ Reminder

  • You matter just as much as your child
  • Your needs don’t stop because theirs are louder
  • Taking care of yourself is taking care of them
  • You’re allowed to want rest, pleasure, quiet, joy — and more

đź“š Sources

  1. National Institutes of Health. “The Science of Self-Care”
  2. Mindful.org. “Everyday Mindfulness for Parents”
  3. Brown, Brené. The Gifts of Imperfection