What ‘self-care’ actually looks like with young kids (it’s not bubble baths)

The image exists somewhere in your social media feed: soft lighting, a bathtub with candles, a glass of wine, possibly a face mask, definitely no one knocking on the door.

It’s beautiful. It’s also, for most parents of young children, almost entirely fictional.

Not because you don’t deserve it, but because the version of self-care being sold to you was designed for a life with more uninterrupted hours, more disposable income, and significantly fewer people who need things from you between the hours of six in the morning and nine at night.