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FOX61 Family First: How prioritizing self-care benefits the entire family

Self-care should be a lifestyle and not something that needs to be scheduled or requires extra time.

HARTFORD, Conn. — The pandemic has created new demands and challenges for many families. Nina Restieri, mom of four and author of ‘Overcoming the Mom-Life Crisis’, says now—perhaps more so than before --it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and stressed. That also makes it even more important to prioritize self-care and ditch the guilt. Restieri explains always putting yourself last is not only bad for you—it can negatively affect the whole family.

“You think really your only option is to kind of shove your needs out the door, give everything up for your kid, and then you’re miserable, your partner is miserable, your kid is miserable. Everyone suffers when you do that” said Resieri.

Restieri encourages mothers and parents to address their feelings and needs. She stresses the importance of self-care but clarifies that the concept comes in many forms and shouldn’t be associated with activities like going to the spa. Self-care should be a lifestyle and not something that needs to be scheduled or requires extra time.

“We’re talking about the foundational things like sleep or eating healthy food, meditation, taking a class that fills you up but it’s also learning how to say ‘no’, prioritizing, learning to not be so hard on yourself. You actually don’t need to make much time, but rather put some thought toward it” said Restieri.

Nina’s own struggles and parenting experiences inspired her to create the momAgenda: a planning and scheduling tool for busy moms. She says the system she created enabled her to get her life back on track. It also inspired her to start her own business—which she’s been running for more than 15 years! You can check out the momAgenda at their website.

Planning and organization aside—Restieri says the big takeaway is this:

“Where I am is the right place to be. As long as I’m giving that child love and a roof and food, I’m doing a really good job. I’m killing it!”

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