Meredith's Kitchen Table

Let me be real with you: choosing yourself as a mom isn’t easy. Especially when you’re running on crumbs of energy, no sleep, and everyone needs something from you right now. You’re juggling nap schedules, snack demands, emotional regulation (theirs and yours), and let’s be honest—just trying to remember if you brushed your teeth today.

And in the middle of all that, you’re supposed to find time to “prioritize your health.”
Take care of your body.
Move.
Breathe.
Hydrate.
Meal prep.
Regulate your hormones.
Some days I want to laugh at how impossible it feels. Other days, I want to cry.

And then there are the moments when I do choose myself—when I reach for the better choice, go for the walk, make the smoothie, set the boundary—and even in the tiniest way, I feel it:
I come back to myself.
I remember that I matter, too.

But the guilt creeps in, doesn’t it?

There’s this old conditioning baked into motherhood—like we’re only “good moms” if we self-sacrifice to the bone. Like taking time to care for our own bodies or minds somehow means we’re neglecting our families.

But that’s not true.
Not even close.

The truth is: when I take care of myself, even in tiny ways, I’m able to show up better. Not as a perfect mom. Not as some Pinterest version of motherhood. But as a woman who’s trying—really trying—to be well and whole in a season that constantly pulls her apart.

I’m learning that healing doesn’t mean huge overnight change.
It’s the quiet, often unseen decision to keep choosing yourself… one small step at a time.

Sometimes it’s just 1% better.
A protein-packed breakfast instead of skipping a meal.
Drinking water before coffee.
Stretching for five minutes after a long night.
Saying no to one thing that would drain you.
Letting the dishes wait so you can breathe and be for a second.

These tiny moments? They’re not small. They’re revolutionary.

Because choosing yourself—your health, your peace, your body—in a world (and a season) that tells you everyone else should come first… that’s radical. That’s brave. That’s healing.

So if you feel like you’re failing because you can’t do it all—you’re not.

You’re just human.
You’re just a mom trying to find your way back to herself.
And that counts. That matters. That transforms things.

Start wherever you are.
Choose one thing today that supports your body or your spirit.
Let that be enough.
Tomorrow? Choose again.

You’re not behind. You’re building something sacred. One day, one choice, one breath at a time.