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Caring for Yourself to Care for Your Family

On any given day, especially during a global pandemic, self-care is probably the last thing on a parent’s mind. Balancing the responsibilities of family, household and career can make self-care feel out of reach altogether. However, now more than ever, making your own well-being a priority is the best gift you can give your family. Creating time to care for yourself puts you in a better position to offer comfort and encouragement to your child when they need it most.

Paying attention to your needs as an individual can help you best care for your child and caring for yourself can take on many different forms. Self-care may look like taking a few minutes to go on a walk, finding time to listen to some of your favorite music or simply taking a few moments to yourself to breathe. You can even consider incorporating some of these things into your schedule with your child, allowing you to practice self-care without needing to find separate time away from your kids.

As time and resources for self-care might be limited, or non-existent, we encourage you to practice caring for yourself in some accessible and time efficient way.

Keep Routines  

When possible, keeping routines for you and your child can be looked at as a form of self-care. Keeping some structure and normalcy can help prevent some of the stress that comes with the unknown of COVID-19. By keeping a routine, you may even be able to find an extra few minutes in the day for yourself to talk a walk or sit outside! But make sure to be kind to yourself if your routine doesn’t always go as planned.

Check-In With Yourself Daily

Practicing being compassionate with yourself is a great form of self-care, and one that can be done ongoing throughout the day. Being kind and patient with yourself, especially as we deal with the uncertainty of COVID-19, can help slow things down and can help you best care for those around you.

Reach Out

Do you have friends who are parents, or a family member you can talk to?  If you are feeling overwhelmed, try to take a few minutes to call, text or video chat someone you trust. Reaching out for support is an act of caring for you and your family.

Remember, supporting your emotional well-being is important to be able to support your child’s emotional well-being. You are deserving of the same love, patience and understanding that you provide your family with.

Visit our COVID-19 page for more information on self-care and other helpful resources for you and your family.

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Headshot of Kitty Lopez

Kitty Lopez has served as the Executive Director of First 5 San Mateo County since 2013, focusing on strategic investing, community leadership, policy and advocacy development for young children, 0-5, and their families.

Kitty has served as Co-Chair of the Advisory Body for Build Up for San Mateo County Children’s Initiative, with Board of Supervisor, Dave Pine, since 2018.  Congressman Kevin Mullin is Honorary Co-Chair.  This initiative was established to preserve, grow, and increase the number of early care sites in San Mateo County.  

Kitty previously served as the Executive Director of Samaritan House, one of San Mateo County’s leading Core Service Agencies and safety-net nonprofits serving low-income families and individuals with food, shelter, clothing, health care, counseling, education classes, and holiday assistance from 2002 to 2013. 

Kitty taught kindergarten, second grade, and high school in southern California and San Francisco and was a consultant in schools with children who have autism and special needs. Additionally, Kitty worked in a residential substance abuse treatment center in San Francisco and psychiatric hospital for children and youth in San Diego.  Kitty’s roots in supporting children began as a 16-year-old volunteer at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles where she taught swimming to children and adults with visual impairments.

She attended University of California Santa Barbara earning a California Teaching Credential and B.A in Psychology. Kitty is active in her community serving as Vice Chair of the San Mateo County Event Center, and Past President and Current Member of the San Mateo Rotary Club.  She is currently serving as Past President of the First 5 Association of California. On March 2022, Assembly Speaker pro Tem Kevin Mullin selected Kitty Lopez as the 2022 Assembly District 22 Woman of the Year.