Abigail Dosen is a passionate book blogger, writer, stylist, and mother. When she was on the hunt for a self-care guide to help her during early motherhood, she found a big gap–none of them taught moms how to truly support and nurture themselves while mothering and taking care of their families. So, she wrote Realistic Self-Care for Moms!

Mother’s Day is coming up, and we know there are tons of amazing moms out there who need some me-time! Realistic Self-Care for Moms by Abigail Dosen was written to help you take care of yourself while taking care of your little one(s). Among the chaos of being a mother, this book will teach you how to find more time for you.

Let’s talk about it. Parenthood is a massive undertaking, and moms are often the ones who bear the biggest workload. After all, it’s not a small feat to grow, welcome, and take care of a whole new human, especially if it’s your first child! It can be easy to lose yourself in the whirlwind of becoming a parent, but you don’t have to sacrifice your sense of self to successfully parent your children and maintain your own needs.

This one-of-a-kind guided journal contains nine chapters (symbolizing the nine months a mother carries her child), each one packed with realistic and actionable advice. The interactive exercises throughout the book can help you get a handle on your mental and physical health by inviting you to reflect honestly, helping you establish plans, and encouraging you to implement positive habits in your day-to-day life.

This book imparts some serious mom-wisdom, and it’s obvious that it was written with love and compassion by a fellow mom. It opens with an introduction and a guide for how to use the book, then digs into the main content where Abby starts by breaking down the concept of “self-care” and grappling with what she calls “mom guilt.” She answers these common questions, what exactly is self-care? And how can we deal with the unattainable and unrealistic expectations constantly placed on us as women and mothers?

In this special book, Abby will guide you through:

Achieving a Balanced Diet: Getting proper nourishment and designating mealtimes as opportunities for mindfulness and self-love
Getting Rest: Strategic solutions for getting not only more sleep, but much needed down-time
Tending to Personal Appearance: Realistic ways to incorporate more self-love into your personal care routine
Finding Peace: Changing your mindset around overstimulation and reframing quiet time
Incorporating Exercise: Clever solutions to help you get more intentional exercise into your daily life and avoid burnout by tuning into your body’s changing needs
Navigating Personal Fulfillment: Advice for living a well-rounded life (including social time!) even while so much of it is taken up by parenting

To round out all these valuable lessons, she finishes the book with a chapter on learning to accept help. Accepting help doesn’t make you any less of the amazing mother you are! She also explains the “mental load” and teaches you how to deal with and share it effectively.

Then, the conclusion chapter involves lots of reflective questions to solidify the goals you came up with while reading by organizing them, making sure they’re realistic, and putting them down on paper.

If you’re a mom who’s struggling to find time for yourself, this book was written just for you. Treat yourself or a beloved mom this Mother’s Day with the lifelong gift of realistic self-care.

Blog by Jules Hostetter

Mother's Day Self-Care