Self Care Sunday: Self Care for Parents, Nurture Yourself from the Inside and Out

Hey there, welcome to Self-Care Sundays on the No Problem Parenting Podcast. I'm your host, Jackie Finneman, and on Sundays we're going to be sharing tips, tools, stories, resources, books, and products for parents and kids that are going to fill your cup and your soul. Sundays are often the day of rest and recharge, getting you all prepared for the start of the new week, and we're going to focus on self-care for parents and give you ideas how to be more intentional about taking care of yourself so that you can better care for your kids.

We're going to sprinkle in some episodes of self-care for the kiddos as well, but today's resources are about what we put in and on our bodies that help us feel good from the inside out and the outside in. How do you do self-care? What does self-care mean for you? Is it attending church, meditating, volunteering, visiting relatives, socializing with friends, shopping, or is it just a day to pause, take a bath, read a book, or go for a walk? Maybe it's going on adventures or traveling with your family. Let's be intentional about self-care. Are you ready for some great tips and products for nurturing yourself from the inside and out? Well, grab a cozy seat and a cup of something you love and let's get started. Hey there, parents. Thanks for listening to the No Problem Parenting Podcast. Are you ready to become the confident leader your kids crave you to be? Are you losing your crap on your kids, yelling, giving in, and exhausted at the end of every day, you are already a good parent and I'm sure you've sought advice from friends or family,

you've read books on your child's specific behavior problem, maybe you've even signed them up to see the school counselor or an outpatient therapist, but despite your efforts to find the right person or thing that will help, your family is still struggling. You're tired of pretending everything's okay. Well, if your confidence is shot and you feel like you're failing your kids, but you also don't have a ton of time or money, register to become a no problem parent. You can start building confidence in your parenting immediately, whether your child is a toddler or all grown up and still living in your house. Don't make this parenting gig harder than it needs to be. Become a no-problem parent today. All right, parents, when do you practice self-care? You know, for some of us,

we're really good at being intentional about regular daily self-care in some way. And then there's some of us who devote one full day for self-care. Whatever it is, you do you. Maybe your Sundays are the day to catch up on errands or household chores and getting organized for the week ahead. Self-care can be whatever makes you smile and fills your cup. I encourage you to be intentional about being kind to yourself, resting and rejuvenating, however that looks for you.

For those of you who are givers and helpers and caretakers, you feel better serving people. At some point, rest and self-care is a must. For Christians that are listening today, the Bible says in Mark 6 31, and he said to them, come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while. We can be of more service to others, including our kids, our families, when we are rested. So be intentional. And have you heard the phrase, if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy? Well, it's true for dads too. Not asking for help or giving too much of yourself is a recipe for destruction. And I know it's not easy for everyone. I get it. There are those times when no one is available to support you and you're dealing with a two-hour screamer or sitting with a child who has been ill.

But do you have friends or family who have said, hey, let me know if you need anything? Have you taken them up on their offer? Even when we need it, sometimes we don't reach out. We think, oh, you know, my friend or family, they didn't really mean it. I can't just call them out of the blue. Well, maybe not, but set up a regular time with the people that offer to help. Take them up on it. Even if the day comes, you've set up a time, they're going to come over and you don't feel like you need it that particular day or at that time, take it anyway. And even if they don't go anywhere and you just enjoy their company, let's not self-sabotage the resources and the supports and the people that are there to help us. Parents, there's always a way. The hardest part is asking or accepting the help, right? But we need to be comfortable asking for and accepting help. We need to shift our mindset and instead of allowing all those negative emotions to come into play, we need to make the need for support a very matter-of-fact normal thing and welcome it.

Let's get into some of the resources that support self-care for us and our entire family. The kind of support, the kind of resources that are going to nurture us and our families from the inside out and the outside in. And so the first resource is choosing safe, toxin-free products and foods that nurture our bodies. Are you the type of parent that reads labels on the food or the products you buy? Have you heard it said that you shouldn't put anything in or on your body that you can't pronounce or that you don't know the meaning of? Well, that would exclude most of the products in our home if we're honest, right? My favorite resource for knowing which foods and products are better than others is the Healthy Living EWG Environmental Working Group app. And I have a link in the show notes for the app that's absolutely free. You can get it on Apple or Google Play.

From snacks to shampoos, we are exposed to chemicals every second, yet we know very little about them. So to help you learn about the foods and the products that you're bringing into your home and make safer choices, EWG created the Healthy Living app, which has trusted ratings for more than, get this, 160,000 foods, cleaning, and cosmetic products. And it's all right at your fingertips with this app. You just simply scan a barcode or search the product by its name or browse a category and EWG is going to give you an easy to understand one to ten score, one being the best, but it's actually super fun to teach your kids and your teens about the Healthy Living app as well. You can download the Healthy Living app to their phone or tablet and then let them scan products when you're shopping. It's another way to keep your kiddos busy as well. So I'm going to share more about the Healthy Living app on upcoming Wellness Wednesdays and Financial Fitness Friday episodes, but I wanted to highlight that those everyday products that we use can have significant impacts on both parents and kids. Being mindful of the everyday products that we use and their impact on us as the adults, but also our kids. I mean, things like skin irritations, respiratory issues from cleaning products, disruptions in hormonal balance due to toxins like phthalates,

and even possible neurological impacts. And our kids have more sensitive systems sometimes, right? And they can experience skin allergies or respiratory problems and developmental issues that are linked to toxins and even behavioral challenges. And then there's reproductive health concerns, particularly for adults.

But let's not leave out our tweens and teens and the environmental impact that continuous exposures to toxins are causing. We can counter this by being a little bit more intentional and looking for those transparent labels and natural products. And the Healthy Living app is just one tool that can support you. It just happens to be my favorite, so that's why I'm sharing it today.

I don't have any affiliation with Healthy Living. And the cool thing is we can teach our kids to make informed choices as well. And remember, it's not just about food and skincare. It's about the things that we're breathing in every day that we might not even know are toxic.

So like think laundry detergent or fabric softeners or perfumes, for instance. All right, and I'm going to share one more resource before I wrap up today. And I want to start by talking about the Safer Bill Beauty Package. If you haven't been following this in legislature, not all of us, you know, it's like you don't know if you don't know, but it's a package of four bills that will modernize federal personal care product laws.

The average American adult uses 12 personal care products a day. And in those products, we're exposed to an average of 168 unique chemicals. You know, think products like toothpaste to makeup, laundry detergent, fabric softeners. It's easy for companies to conceal harmful chemicals.

Chemicals in beauty and personal care products have been linked to cancer and infertility, poor infant and maternal health outcomes, asthma, and many other serious health concerns. So I'm not saying this to scare you, but we don't know what we don't know. And I think it's our job as parents to learn about the things we don't know about and to be as informed as possible. So take a minute to download the app and scan your personal care products and see how they rank on the app from 1 to 10.

Again, 1 being best and 10 being get rid of it. I use a number of skincare products and different even toothpaste. Like there's different companies and places that our family gets our personal care products from. And one of the companies that I love that is supporting the Safer Build Beauty Package is Beauty Counter.

So there's a link in the show notes. If you want to check them out, you can get 20% off safer skincare products for you and the whole family, including deodorants, sunscreens. And there's also an option to join their company as an advocate. And if you choose that option, you can receive up to 40% off.

So this is a limited time offer. Check it out today. There's a link in the show notes or go to beautycounter.com backslash no problem parents and check it out.

And if you're interested in learning more about ingredient safety in the everyday products that we're bringing into our home and how it's affecting us and our kids, I'm going to encourage you to check out the new podcast called Coast to the Heart. Episodes drop on Mondays and my friend Andy and her fellow mom friend Amy have started this new podcast. You can search for it Coast to the Heart on your favorite podcast app or I'll include a link in the show notes as well.

Amy and Andy are two clean beauty advocates that are going to talk all things ingredient safety legislation and how we can turn negative perceptions into positive actions so go check out coast to the heart with Amy and Andy and as I wrap up I'm going to remind you that the greatest gift you can give to your kids is to nurture yourself so that you won't need your kiddos to do that for you your well-being matters so nurture yourself from both the inside and out it's a gift you give not only to yourself, but to the entire family. Thank you for joining me today. Tune in tomorrow for Mindset and Motivation Monday and share this episode with a friend, family member, or colleague that might need a gentle reminder that it's okay to ask for and accept help.

All right, that's it for today's episode of the No Problem Parenting Podcast. Hey, thanks guys for tuning in. If you found value in today's episode, click the subscribe button and share it with other parents who might need a little boost. Stay connected on our socials by following at No Problem Parents for more parenting tips and get your free download of the 60 ways to respond to your kids without losing your cool. Go to noproblemparents.com. Until next time, remember your confidence comes from embracing both successes and setbacks. So take a deep breath, embrace the chaos, and remember you got this.

Thank you.