Let’s face it: as moms, life is always busy. These self care tips will give you the permission you need to take care of yourself so that you can do a better job of taking care of everyone else. A big thank you to Lincoln for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own. 

I have reached the level of exhaustion where once in awhile I keep my eyes closed for a few extra seconds when I blink because it feels so freaking good. If I put my head down on my desk, I’m one hundred percent sure I’ll fall asleep. But at night? At night I lie in bed awake with a lengthy to-do list running through my head over and over again, trying to burn it into my mind so that I don’t forget anything. Have you ever been there?

For me, it’s the result of an inability to say no, an overstuffed schedule, and a tendency towards procrastination that build off of each other and explode in my face. Not good, my friends. Not good.

Why do we so often put ourselves last? We’re really good at taking care of the health and happiness of everyone around us, but when it comes to ourselves we often put it aside to be dealt with later—you know, at a more convenient time. But there is no convenient time!

Fellow mommas: if we don’t take good care of ourselves, we can’t possibly take good care of anyone else.

Now, I know I’m not an expert at the art of self care. But I think it’s really important that we try to be better at it. Baby steps, maybe? What if we start with three things we don’t have to feel bad about and then go from there?

The holidays can be an incredibly stressful time for parents, so I’ve turned to parenting expert Sue Groner for some tips and tricks for dealing with family-related holiday stress.

It’s late on Christmas Eve. You’re bleary-eyed, devoid of cheer, and still not done wrapping presents. Every time the wind blows, you’re on high alert like a reindeer caught in the headlights. Was that a footstep? Are the kids still asleep? Wasn’t there an extra roll of tape around here somewhere?!

As your thoughts drift to tomorrow, your spirits are raised a bit. You think of the excited looks on your kids’ faces as they unwrap their gifts. A halo of bedhead encircles them and their eyes are wide and full of incredible joy. Your heart just might burst.

Then you consider what will happen when sugar is added to their already excited little bodies. And what will happen when this mixture is then combined with judgy relatives just waiting to help improve your parenting skills.

Does this rollercoaster sound familiar?

The holidays can be a bitch. With all the warm, happy, holly jolly feelings, there is also a definite side of stress. Whether money is tight, there’s family drama, or your kids have reached a point of overstimulation you’re just not sure they’ll come back from, it can be difficult to know just how to deal.

Since I’m no expert, I decided to pick the brain of Sue Groner, founder of The Parenting Mentor and author of the new book Parenting: 101 Ways to Rock Your World.

As the days heat up and we rapidly approach the official start of summer (see: the crown of frizz now living along my hairline), I’ve stumbled across parents who are dead set against their daughters wearing bikinis. As a girl mom and a woman, I was intrigued. Is belly flesh really that scandalous? What makes bikinis so different and so much less appropriate than their one-piece counterparts? I couldn’t quite wrap my mind around it, but I needed to. The deeper I dug, though, the more pissed off I got.

The basic motivation behind a bikini ban is good: parents (usually fathers) feel they are in some way protecting their daughters by not allowing them to show their bellies. Now, I can totally get behind the idea of protecting my babies. There is no mama bear fiercer than I am. But can we take a second to acknowledge how completely fucked up that logic is?

I’m a little bit of an Instagram addict. I mean, I love it. I do. But there are times when I don’t love it. Like when everything is looking pristine and smiley and happy as I scroll through and I’m over here in yesterday’s yoga pants trying to break up a fight over who touched who in a mean way. Celeb moms on Instagram can really make me feel like shit. Some of them have feeds full of gorgeously curated photos taken by what must be a professional photographer with captions like “My heart!” or “This is what life’s all about!” And while that’s totally true, it can make a momma feel like a total failure when she just wants five seconds without anyone touching her.

That leads me to today’s post. Today, I want to celebrate the celeb moms on Instagram who keep it real. I mean really real. The mommas who show us that life isn’t all bright, perfectly aligned smiles and children who look like they frolicked out of an ad campaign. Today is all about the famous moms who give us a tiny glimpse of real life.

8 Awesomely Honest Celeb Moms on Instagram

Yes. I eat in the shower. I admit it. Chicken apple sausage and espresso. Try it. I dare you. #ShowerEats

A post shared by Jessica Biel (@jessicabiel) on Sep 30, 2016 at 1:35pm PDT

I have to tell you, I love Chrissy Teigen. From shutting down mom shaming trolls on Twitter again and again to being a completely unapologetic goofball, she is my kind of girl. I mean, how can you not love someone who constantly finds herself turned into a meme and always manages to laugh it off? She doesn’t take herself too seriously and I love that about her.

Aside from the whole “I’m a model and married to John Legend” thing, she’s also really, really easy to relate to—especially since becoming a mom.

Take her night at the Oscars, for instance.

Chrissy started the night off by presenting her daughter with an Oscar while she was getting ready. Because moms always think their kids are just about the best at everything.