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I have a complicated relationship with the phrase self care. In theory, it sounds lovely. Take time for yourself. Fill your cup. Prioritize your needs. Get a massage. Take a bath. Meditate. Journal. Develop a skincare routine involving seventeen products and apparently a small refrigerator specifically for your face. Wonderful. And who, exactly, is watching the children? Because sometimes telling an overwhelmed mother that she needs more self care feels a little like looking

There is a particular kind of neurodivergent experience that sounds something like this: “I was absolutely going to do that until you told me I needed to do it.” Or maybe it is, “I know I need to make the appointment. I would actually like to make the appointment. I have been thinking about making the appointment for six days. But now that it has officially become A Thing I Have To Do, apparently I would rather reorganize my entire closet.” Welcome to the complicated world of

I would like to formally introduce you to one of my favorite therapeutic interventions: the Potato Day. Very clinical terminology. Highly sophisticated. Years of education went into this. A Potato Day is exactly what it sounds like. You become a potato. You lay around. You wear comfortable clothes. You accomplish very little. You may watch television. You may scroll your phone. You may take a nap. You may stare at the ceiling for an unreasonable amount of time. You are not op

Recently, I took the RAADS R, a self report questionnaire designed to identify autistic traits in adults. And apparently my ADHD may have brought a friend. Autism. Or, as I have been jokingly referring to it, perhaps just a touch of autism. Now, before anyone comes for your friendly neighborhood therapist in the comments, the RAADS R is not a diagnosis. A screening questionnaire cannot tell me definitively that I am autistic. Autism evaluations are much more comprehensive and

There is a kind of grief we don’t talk about very much. It is not grief after a miscarriage. It is not infertility grief. It is not the grief of losing a child. It is grieving someone who never existed. The baby you thought you might have someday. The third car seat. The name sitting somewhere in the back of your brain. The newborn you can almost picture, even though you know you are probably never going to meet them. And lately, I have been feeling that grief. I have two chi

Labor Day can be a long weekend with cookouts, clearance sales, and one last pool day. But if a due date is circling the calendar, “labor day” starts to mean something very different. Suddenly the questions get real. Is this a contraction or just a weird cramp? Is the hospital bag actually packed? Who gets called first? What does a doula do once things get intense? Is a midwife the same as an OB GYN? And how firm is that beautifully written birthing plan once the baby, the bo

Being exhausted and still unable to sleep can feel deeply unfair. Oh no, the F word. The house is quiet, everyone finally needs less from you, and then your mind starts checking the calendar, replaying the day, or listening for the next cry from down the hall. For many moms, sleep is not as simple as “go to bed earlier.” Hormones, caregiving, stress, feeding schedules, work, household tasks, and the mental load can all affect rest. Sleep may also become tied to pressure. The

A child can have one hard moment at school and come home convinced the whole day was ruined. A friend forgets to wave, and suddenly the thought becomes, “They don’t like me anymore.” A mistake on a math quiz turns into, “I’m bad at everything.” These thoughts feel real to kids. They can also feel big, fast, and hard to stop. In therapy, these patterns are often called thinking traps. A thinking trap is an unhelpful thought pattern that makes a problem feel larger, scarier, or

Content note: This article discusses maternal mental illness, suicide, postpartum psychosis, intrusive thoughts, and the deaths of children. It intentionally avoids graphic details. There are some stories that are almost impossible to talk about. The Lindsay Clancy case is one of them. Three children died. A mother had been struggling psychiatrically for months. A father lost his entire family as he knew it. And now a courtroom is being asked to determine something extraordin

The first weeks of school can bring out a version of a child that families have not seen all summer. A child who seemed calm in July may melt down over socks in August. Another may explode after school because the wrong snack is in the car. Bedtime may stretch longer. Mornings may feel impossible. This does not mean the child is “regressing” or that summer spoiled them. Back-to-school season asks a lot from kids at once: new routines, new adults, new sounds, new social demand

Hello, it’s Joy and Jen from Moms Gone Mental. There is a special kind of relationship tension that happens when you realize the person you chose to raise children with does not, in fact, approach parenting exactly like you do. One parent thinks, “They need consequences.” The other thinks, “They need a hug.” One thinks bedtime means 8:00. The other thinks 8:00 is more of a suggestion. And somehow your child has figured out exactly which parent to ask for a popsicle at 9:17 p.

Have you ever looked around your house, seen twenty things that need to get done, and somehow... done none of them. The laundry is overflowing. The dishes are staring at you. Your inbox has become a digital graveyard. Your kids have a million activities you need to plan out. You know what you need to do, but your brain simply refuses to start. If this sounds familiar, you are not lazy. You may just need a little dopamine. What Is Dopamine? Dopamine is often called the "feel g

When you hear the word mindfulness, you might picture someone sitting quietly on a mountain for an hour. But let’s be honest, most moms don’t have an uninterrupted hour to spare. Ain't nobody got time for that! If we did, we might spend it catching up on laundry or sneaking snacks without sharing. The good news is mindfulness doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. It’s simply paying attention to the present moment with curiosity instead of judgment. You can practic

Summer break can feel like a marathon for moms. The days stretch long, the kids’ energy never seems to fade, and the pressure to keep everyone entertained can be overwhelming. But summer survival doesn’t have to mean chaos or exhaustion. We talked to neighborhood moms and gathered practical tips to help you get through summer one day at a time, with less stress and more smiles. Create Anchor Points Instead of a Strict Schedule Trying to stick to a rigid schedule during summer

Mother's Day is a special time to honor the many roles women play in motherhood and beyond. This year, it also coincides with Mental Health Awareness Month, offering a unique opportunity to focus on maternal mental health. Mothers come from diverse backgrounds and experiences, whether they are new moms, single parents, neurodivergent, empty nesters, or women hoping to become mothers. Each story matters, and building community connections can make a significant difference in t

Motherhood brings many joys, but it also brings moments of intense frustration and anger. Feeling angry as a mother is common and normal, yet it often comes with guilt or confusion. Understanding why anger arises and learning ways to manage it can help mothers feel more in control and less isolated. This post explores realistic reasons behind anger in motherhood and offers practical tips to cool down when emotions run high. Here is a great visual for a mother's anger iceberg,

Hello, it's Joy and Jen. Motherhood is full of sensory experiences. Sticky hands pulling on your shirt. Multiple children talking at once. The dog barking. A toy beeping in the background that no one seems to hear except you. Sometimes, the overwhelm we feel isn’t just emotional or mental. It’s sensory . In our sensory episode, we talked about something many mothers experience but rarely name: sensory overload . For some moms, especially those who are neurodivergent or highly

Hello, it's Joy and Jen. Motherhood changes everything, including how we give and receive love. In our latest Communication in Relationships podcast episodes, we talked a lot about connection: with our kids, our partners, and ourselves. Two powerful frameworks that help us understand that connection are love languages and attachment theory . When we combine these lenses, we gain insight into: Why we react the way we do Why certain behaviors trigger us How to repair disconne

In this week’s episode of Moms Gone Mental , we take you deep into the land of self-examination—where intrusive thoughts meet their day...

Mom Brain vs. Thought Traps: Cognitive Distortions We All Have Let’s be real: being a mom means your brain rarely gets a break. Between...