My sisters were here and we somehow got to talking about breast health. It happens lol I was telling Z that I massage Nadine’s (living libations) oil and frankincense on my boobs before bed cause it makes me feel like magic and also, I just intuitively feel like it’s a good move.

Anyhow, Z looked at Brittan and said “she’s so good at self care” - and suddenly I felt the need to defend myself. I just kept coming up with things to say to explain why I take care of myself, as if that was a bad thing. I workout regularly now and do daily meditations. I’m working on eating clean and just overall taking more time for myself. The list goes on and on actually lol I’m not playing around. Cause, well... it’s time. Anyhow, since she left I’ve been wondering why I felt the need to explain or justify my self-care routine. I took damn good care of myself before I had kids.

So, what happened? Mom guilt is fucking real- that’s what happened. I don’t even remember picking up the mom martyr badge. For real, I just looked up one day and I was waving it like some kind of twisted badge of honor, When did I start feeling guilty for taking time for myself? I don’t know but I know this: it’s not an easy badge to take off. Who benefits from the self-sacrificing woman? I don’t know but it’s not me and it’s not my family. I really don’t want my girls to grow up watching me destroy myself and then being bitter cause no-one came to save me.

So, here’s to choosing to take care of ourselves and not apologizing for it. Here’s to showing ourselves and our girls that you can love everyone around you and love yourself too. Brooke Hampton