top of page
Search

Quick Self-Care Tips for Moms Who Can't Stop Reading the News

  • Writer: Caitlin Kindred
    Caitlin Kindred
  • 4 hours ago
  • 5 min read

I just doomscrolled for 20 minutes in an H-E-B parking lot.


True story from last Friday.


Here's what happened: I was sitting in my car, after the very nice employee had put my groceries in the trunk, reading about the latest absolute dumpster fire of a news story. My chest got tight. My jaw clenched. I felt a little sick. And I kept reading and scrolling, reading and scrolling.


Because what if I missed something important? What if I wasn't informed enough? What if NOT reading every terrible thing made me complicit somehow?


And then the very nice employee closed the trunk of the car next to me, waking me up out of my scrolling trance.


And I sat there in the silence and realized: I cannot remember a single headline I just read, but I can tell you exactly how anxious I feel right now.


Cool. Very productive use of my already-limited mental energy.


If you've ever done this—doomscrolled instead of sleeping, snapped at your kid because you were actually mad at something you saw online, felt guilty for NOT consuming every piece of terrible news—this one's for you.


Person using a laptop and holding a smartphone displaying a message. Gray chair, orange box, and text in a relaxed indoor setting.

Listen to the Full Episode


You are not a 24-hour news desk.

Your nervous system was not designed for "endless breaking news ticker" + "remember tomorrow is pajama day at school."


We're being told to stay informed and be engaged. And honestly? It feels irresponsible to be anything but. But we're also the default parent, the orthodontist appointment scheduler, the person who knows everyone's dietary restrictions for the Super Bowl party.


The world already expects infinite capacity from mothers. And we keep trying to give it.


It's just not sustainable.


This week on the podcast, Ariella and I talked about how to actually stay informed without completely wrecking yourself in the process. Not in a "just do yoga and everything will be fine" way. In a "here are actual boundaries you can set today" way.

The One Thing I Want You to Hear

If the news feels like too much, that doesn't mean you don't care. It means you're human.


Over the last week, have you:

  • Scrolled the news instead of sleeping?

  • Felt a pit in your stomach reading headlines?

  • Snapped at someone and realized you were really mad at something online?


That's not a moral failing. That's your nervous system waving a red flag.


What Actually Helps: The News Container Method

Instead of letting the news crash your brain whenever it feels like it, we talked about building a "container" for it. Three specific boundaries:


Time boundary

Pick 1-2 windows a day for news. That's it. (I check at 12:30 and 8:30. If something truly urgent happens outside those times, I'll hear about it.)


Space boundary

Make some zones news-free. Your bedroom. The dinner table. Maybe the car when kids are in it. (My rule: no news in bed. That's not where my brain needs to find out about the latest crisis.)


Source boundary

Choose 1-3 trusted sources and let THEM filter for you. (I only get push notifications from Reuters and The Guardian. During the workday, nothing from Apple News lights up my phone.)


And here's the uncomfortable part: This goes for friends too. You are allowed to mute that one friend who posts 57 urgent takes a day. You can love her and still say, "My nervous system cannot handle being your audience right now."


We walk through exactly how to set these up in the episode—including what to do when you feel guilty for NOT doomscrolling.


The Self-Care Moms Like You Can Actually Do

We also talked about self-care that fits into a real mom schedule. Not bubble baths. Not vision boards. Just tiny things that keep your brain from overheating:

  • Stand outside for 60 seconds and feel the sunlight on your face

  • Swap one doomscroll for something neutral or pleasant: a silly podcast, a novel, or a recipe video.

  • Text a friend: "No need to respond, just needed to tell someone I'm overwhelmed today."


If you have time to scroll, you have time to take five deep breaths.

(I'm saying this to you but mostly to myself.)


In the episode, I talk about 3 types of self-care: body care, brain care, and connection care. I also share two things you can do in each self-care category to re-center yourself, plus two grounding techniques that work in the pickup line or at a red light—because who has time for anything more complicated than that?


When You Care But Can't Do Everything

Here's the part I really needed to hear this week:


You are not failing because you didn't attend the rally that started at 6 p.m. on a Tuesday when you were covered in mac and cheese.


There are seasons where you have the capacity to show up at every school board meeting, and seasons where your biggest activism is keeping small humans alive and kind.


We talk about capacity-based activism in the episode—three questions to ask yourself to figure out what you can actually do THIS week (not what guilt tells you to do), and why "doing what you can with what you have" is not laziness. It's sustainable engagement.


Because burned out and checked out look the same from the outside. And we need you for the long haul.

One Thing You Can Do Right Now

Turn off just one notification. Filter through your news alerts. Decide what you want to hear about and from which sources.


That's it. That's the whole action item.


(If you want the full toolkit—all the scripts, the grounding techniques, the framework for capacity-based activism—listen to the episode. We give you everything.)


We Need Your Help

Real question: If this show disappeared tomorrow, what would you miss most?


I genuinely want to know. We're trying to understand what's actually landing with you so we can make the show you need, not just the show we think you need. Reply here, DM us on Threads (@ckandgkpodcast), or hit us up however works for you.


Sources & Mentions

How did you hear about us?
bottom of page