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'Self-care' is not enough to fix how much moms are burnt out

'Self-care' is not enough to fix how much moms are burnt out

By Diana Spalding


I sat in bed, haphazardly staring at my phone, my thumb robotically scrolling through Instagram
posts of moms clearly doing it better than I was. My back ached from my hunched posture, but
adjusting my body felt like too much work. From down the hall, a little voice called out, "Mom, I can't
sleep," and all I could muster were the words, "Okay, babe." No solutions offered, no words of
consolation. Because I had run out of solutions, run out of words.

Cautiously, my sweet husband asked, "Babe? You doing okay?"

I considered the question. I ran through the mental load quietly yet oppressively pressing in on me—
the ever-present worry, guilt, stress.

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