Mental Health

For years, I have been a firm believer in taking what I like to call mental health days. With two kids and ever-increasing responsibilities at work and home, it is more important than ever for me to take that time. My mental health days are my self-care. What’s a mental health day? These are days that I choose ahead of time to do whatever I need to do for myself. Yes – I said it. I "selfishly" take time for me. I usually take one day every few months or after a particularly stressful period at work and/or home. My time is spent doing whatever I want to do – or nothing at all. My mental health days don’t all look...

This has been a rough year for me. With several heavy issues in my lap, I was struggling more than I ever had. When it got to the point where I felt like I was drowning and couldn't get out, when I was too immobilized to take my kids to the store with me (both very new feelings for me), I decided it was time to go back to therapy. After several sessions, we realized that I was struggling with anxiety and depression. I spoke with my general practitioner, and started on medication, and began to finally feel the fog lifting. I was feeling more stable with a balance of therapy and meds. I knew that the last several months...

I have an ugly confession to make – now that I am a mom, I’ve become a side-project junkie. Time is my currency and Pinterest is my gateway drug. If projects were a household item for me, they would be a drawer full of mismatched koozies that multiply after getting wet. I can’t resist the temptation of jumping head-first into something that is time consuming, requires an unnecessary financial investment, and, for me, doesn’t come with an exit strategy. I’ve started searching for a new hit now that I’m 37 weeks pregnant and the kitchen finally has new hardware. The Symptoms of an Over-involved Mom I say “yes” far too often at work. I make commitments to learning how to do...

One of the most stressful things about preparing to add a child to a family is figuring out parental leave. And unfortunately for us, the US lags behind when it comes to leave policies that support families. Here are some facts about parental leave from Healthline: The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not mandate paid family leave on a federal level. Only 60% of US women qualify for FMLA which mandates 12 weeks of UNPAID job protection for parents after the birth of a child. Only 13% of parents have access to any form of paid family leave. 25% of American women return to work within 2 weeks of giving birth. Suicide is the second...

Recently James Corden went on his show and addressed fat shaming. It hit really close to home. Here, take a gander at his monologue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax1U04c4gaw There is not a time in my life I can remember not being conditioned to be ashamed of any excess weight or pooch or thighs or myself. Many times, I truly believe that it was never with ill-intention. We are taught not only to be ashamed of our own body, but to also make sure no one else has our insecurities by shaming them into being better than us. If you're lost by the previous statement, it's because our convoluted thought that if we point out our own and others' fat, the fat will somehow disappear...