Mental Health Real Talk: Practical Steps for Moms & Kids with Tara Rolstad

Welcome to the Real Life Momz podcast. It is time to take a break from all our to-dos and carve out this time to focus on ourselves. I'm Lisa Foster, your host, and today I'm here with mental health expert, author and speaker Tara Rolstad, and we are diving into the topic of mental health for ourselves and our kids.

So, hi Tara. Welcome to the show. Hey Lisa. Thanks for having me. Well, I'm excited to have you. This is such an important topic, and I do think as a mom. We spread that self care word all around us, and yet when stuff hits the fan, it's like the thing that gets dropped. , and so mental health is huge.

We don't always have those outlets for ourselves. So can you tell us a little bit about your journey, , into this whole mental health field and why you decided to really advocate for this? [00:01:00] Absolutely. My journey began the way most people who work in mental health begins with, against my will.

Let's put it that way. I was a mom working in the nonprofit world. I had three little kids and my husband and I took in a couple of nieces who had come from a background of. Really horrific abuse. And, , , one was my brother's kid and then her little half sister, but my brother had died many, many years earlier.

And so we took these girls in and we were just absolutely confident that because we were, I. You know, educated professionals, , and we were just gonna love them, that they would be fine. We were just gonna introduce them to all of the activities and get them in school and catch them up on mental health care, and they were gonna be fun.

And as it turns out, that was wildly, wildly naive. They were not fine. And the older girl, particularly was 14 when she came to us, and she spent the next several [00:02:00] years in and out of psychiatrist office. Psychiatric units, hospital stays, residential stays. She experienced, significant post-traumatic stress disorder and depression and suicidality, a number of suicide attempts, a lot of self-harm, and we spent the next several years, first of all, helping her.

Go through the work of learning how to be okay. And then also learning everything about mental health that we did not know, which was pretty much everything. , I like to say that what I knew before that about mental health was pretty much what I'd read in people magazine articles because I think back then, that's all any of us really knew.

It wasn't something you learned about in school really. It wasn't something we talked about. It certainly was not in that. Baby books when we were getting ready to be moms. . And so it was a whole new, world of learning for me. And that journey, as you can imagine, was very intense and very [00:03:00] difficult.

And I got to a point where I realized either I needed to figure out how to take care of myself or I wasn't gonna be any good to the people around me at all. Uh, it was a bit of an emergency situation in terms of. Holy moly. I dunno how to do this. And I'm exhausted and I'm stressed out. And I, I slowly began to develop things that worked for me when it came to self-care.

That's kind of the short version of the story. Yeah. And it's, it's really true. Mental health when someone is not well in the home, it doesn't just stay with that person. Right. It's like glitter. It spreads everywhere. Everyone feels it. Absolutely. So maybe we could dive in first. We're going to, you know, go down the kid lane in a little bit.

But let's dive down first into the, our own mental health when dealing with all of this. 'cause you had a front row seat of it, right? Not, not in a good way, but you were in it and you had to [00:04:00] figure out these self-care so. What are some good, like mental health hygiene. We brush our teeth, right?

We wash our hair. It's hygiene, but mental health should be hygiene too. Is there things that we can kind of put in that are simple that we're not gonna drop if, if things are too much and things are going on in our home, that we can just do it in our daily act like life? Yeah, absolutely. But none of that matters, Lisa.

None of it matters if. The mom listening to this podcast is rolling her eyes and thinking, I don't have time for that. Yeah. Are you kidding me? Yeah. Do you have any idea what's on my to-do list? Mm-hmm. I don't have time for that. And I understand, like, I swear, I get it. I was raising five kids and one of them was in and outta the psych unit.

Like I didn't have time either. Mm-hmm. When you get to that point where you are either weepy all the time for no reason, [00:05:00] you are angry at the grocery store, cashier for asking if you want paper or plastic, um, you know, you're, you're mean to your kids or your spouse, right? Just like you, you gotta figure it out.

And so what I would say the first thing that moms need to do is look in the mirror and accept that they are worth taking care of themselves. They are worth it, not, not because of what they're doing, not because they're a mom, not because of any job. They may or may not have. Because they deserve to be happier and healthier and they need to take care of themselves to get there.

So that's kind of the first commitment. That is absolutely not an answer to the question you asked me, but I just feel like it's so important because I know as a mom our resistance to anything that feels self-indulgent. Mm-hmm. Our resistance to anything that feels like not getting to the to-do list, not working on the laundry, not whatever.

So that's the first thing I would say. And you know, honestly, I speak about [00:06:00] self-care, not just to moms, but to, um, corporations and, and businesses. And I resisted it for a long time because I rolled my eyes at self-care because I was. Very irritated by the way the world talked about this.

Mm-hmm. Um, we give it a lot of lip service and we talk a lot about wine and bubble baths, and it is not just about that. Now, don't get me wrong, that can be part of a self-care plan, but it's so much bigger than that and it's so much more individualized than, so I think the next thing is figuring out, well, there's two things.

First. When I talk about this, I talk about what I call the boring four. Which, uh, they're boring. They, they really are. They're the things we all know that we need to do. That we would much just rather, take a pill made from the tears of goats raised in South Dakota on buttercup blossoms, right?

Like, how much easier would that be? [00:07:00] But it's sleep, nutrition, movement, and nature. Put those two together, and then community. So first thing I do is an assessment of those four things. Where am I? Am I getting it? Sleep. I will just tell you, Lisa, that for me, sleep is my kryptonite. At least if kryptonite is the thing that brings Superman down, it is.

. If I don't get enough sleep, nobody is happy. Yeah, nobody is happy. In fact, I'm in a situation right now with perimenopause, menopause where sleep is a whole, it's a whole thing. We gotta get enough sleep, and that's a really easy one to sacrifice when the only time you get to yourself as a mom is at night, after everyone else goes to bed for the love.

They're all quiet. Mm-hmm. Everybody is leaving you alone and all you wanna do is scroll Instagram, tell your eyes leak out of your head. But sleep is like baseline and then it's, you know, am [00:08:00] I putting food in my body that fuels it? I don't care about any of the rest of it, but am I fueling my body in a way that makes me feel good?

Am I getting outside and am I moving my body? Which is something, by the way, we deprive our children of far too often. Mm-hmm. Um, so we could all go outside and play and then do I have friends, do I have community? Do I have support? And that one is also really hard for moms, especially if they've been isolated or they haven't yet connected with a good friend group.

, and I tell people on that one say, go get awkward. Like just walk up to a mom in the car line. And ask her if she wants to have coffee. Like just if you don't have a good friend group. 'cause you're gonna need a good friend group at some point. Mm-hmm. Like you can't get through parenting without one.

Yeah. So that's where I would start. And I can also see, 'cause we are gonna go down the line of a little bit about our kids and mental health. And if we have someone like you did in the house with issues of mental health or [00:09:00] anything going on that's pretty significant, it's hard to reach out to other parents.

And and do that awkward 'cause all you wanna do is stay home where it's safe, it's easy, it's contained. I don't have to talk about what's going on. . So what do you say about that for a mom , whatever it is that has a hard time actually reaching out to others.

Start with baby steps, but. Be absolutely reassured that your openness is going to be rewarded with openness from, because so many of us are struggling for absolutely no reason all by ourselves. When there are women all around us who have something going on there, there's, if you can find that mom.

You can find plenty of moms on the sidelines at the soccer game who look like they have it all together. [00:10:00] Yeah, they don't. Mm-hmm. They have, you know, dirty laundry at home and a husband who just lost his job and somebody is ignoring the cat barf on the carpet. 'cause they don't wanna clean it up. Like we've all got stuff.

And I have never, and this is honest, honest truth, I have never shared my story with somebody, or at least with a group of people in conversation and had just dead silence and had rejection. What I've had instead, even though what I've had to share and what I've gone, gone through is pretty intense is people have said, oh, my sister went through something like that.

That's just like my brother, you know? That's my cousin, that's my daughter. We're all going through something. . And even if what they're going through isn't the exact same thing, your courage and opening up might be the key that unlocks their courage to reach back out to you or even to get the help that they need.

Yeah. So I just am [00:11:00] such a huge proponent for being open about our experiences. I mean, be safe. Like be be careful about who you share things with and make sure that they're safe people, but. Little by little start being brave and opening yourself up. 'cause you're gonna find out that life is a lot richer and there's a lot more support available than you think.

Yeah. And let's face facts. We get the best recommendations from other parents. Right. So, oh my gosh, absolutely. Right. So you might find that resource that you were just waiting for, right? Just because you stepped out of your comfort zone. So yeah, I think that's important. Yeah. That's a super, that's super important in the, in the work that I do because we will go on Facebook and ask for a dentist or a pediatrician.

Yeah. But you know how hard it's to find a therapist right now? It's hard. Hard. And if we feel the comfort level of saying, Hey, if anybody's got somebody, somebody that takes this insurance and connects with their [00:12:00] kid, would you let me know? Mm-hmm. Oh my gosh. How much easier life would be for so many people.

Yeah, and a good recommendation is huge because especially for your child or for yourself, I mean, you'd want to be able to walk into that therapy session and get the help you need versus it not being a good connection and then having to start all over. But knowing somebody who knows somebody who knows you, I mean, it gives you, yeah, it gives you leg up.

Yeah, totally. Now I know you've written this book, what to Do Right Now When Your Child Is Suicidal. And I love the name because I love the what to do right now because I think that's important. 'cause when you're in it, that is what you wanna know. So maybe you can tell us a little bit about your book and what's really important for parents to hear today.

So the book came out of my experiences not just raising my niece, but as our own kids got older. As it turns out, one of our kids, my middle child, my daughter, [00:13:00] has severe depression and anxiety and A DHD, and she wound up dealing, um, with a number of suicidal episodes over her middle school and high school years that we actually didn't know about until one got very significant.

She wound up at the hospital. So between that experience of, of walking alongside my daughter and my niece, I realized how very little information there was for parents on this very, very serious topic. We learn a lot of things in the parenting books, but not this. And. When you are in it and you feel completely terrified and completely alone, and all you can find when you Google is call 9 1 1 or go to the emergency room, that is not super helpful because what happens when you get home from the emergency room?

What do you do later tonight? What do you do Thursday? Right? Like you have to learn how to build a life around a [00:14:00] child who maybe doesn't want to live and needs some significant help. And then how does that affect you and how do you take care of yourself in that situation? So that's why I wrote the book.

Mm-hmm. Um, and it's available now, and I'm really hoping that, that it gets enough word of mouth and it gets enough publicity that every parent who goes through this is immediately told, Hey, there's help. Here's a book. Go read this. That is so hard. And. And it's scary. Like, let's face facts.

You don't wanna step into that. You know, if you're feeling it and you see your child struggling, it's like, it's scary to even ask the question of, you know, are you thinking of harming yourself? Right. Such an important question yet. Mm-hmm. So hard. 'cause that's, there's conflict there.

You don't, if they say yes, you're like, oh no. If they say no, you know, then what else is going on? Right? Like the right, it's, it's almost like there's no good answer. So how do we start to [00:15:00] address that first step? That first question of, , finding out what's going on with your child. And this goes not just for our kids, but for anybody that we might be concerned about that , might be having those thoughts.

It is not going to make anybody, including your child more suicidal if you ask them if they've thought about hurting themselves. It's not going to make them think of it for the first time and then want to act on in fact, asking a person if you're concerned about them, if they've thought about. Killing themselves.

If they've thought about hurting themselves, saying, Hey, I've been really concerned about you. This is what I've observed. That's actually going to reduce their stress and their tension, because they're going to know that you're safe to talk to. They're gonna realize, oh, oh my gosh, mom's open to this conversation.

I can, I can tell her and she won't freak out. [00:16:00] I mean, you probably will freak out at least on the inside. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But for a kid to know that they can have that conversation with you is everything, and you are not going to make it worse by asking the question. Yeah, that's such an important point. I had a situation in my office, where I had asked the question and I was so thankful because I.

I had another person on the podcast and we talked about suicide, and she basically just said, you have to ask the question, , and I dunno what it is about asking, like, are you thinking of harming yourself? You know, like it's, it's not that hard to ask actually, even though it feels that way.

, but it's a question that wouldn't have come to my mind. But in this scenario I was so happy that I had heard and that we talked about it. 'cause I think we're not talking about it enough that it becomes more natural. That when I was in that situation, I could just ask. And the answer was yes. And then I also knew that I could do something.

I didn't know, obviously what to [00:17:00] do. Mm-hmm. I was not trained in that. However, I was able to call the crisis hotline. And you're right. That's right. I love the point of like, it doesn't make it worse. In fact, if not, if anything else super thankful, they felt really seen and heard.

Um, it, it wa it was actually a beautiful moment. So. I was really grateful to actually have that conversation. And if you don't start talking about these things with people that know what they're talking about or have had those experiences, um, then it becomes hard. But if you do have those conversations, it's actually not that difficult.

That's amazing. What a great story, Lisa. Yeah. And that person will never forget that they neither will I. They know Yeah. That you cared and neither will you. That's right. And. I think if you're on the fence about talking to someone, especially your kid, but anyone, and you're not sure, oh, what if I offend them?

What if this upsets them? What if you don't ask and, [00:18:00] and you lose them, right? , I just met with a mom this morning who lost her son to suicide and they had no idea. They had no idea. And sometimes that happens and sometimes we do everything right as parents and, and it still happens. Mm-hmm. But I know that if she had the opportunity to go back and ask the question and talk to 'em about it, she'd do it in a heartbeat.

So what are some signs that parents should look for and, start those conversations? A lot of times it's the normal signs of depression. It's withdrawal, isolation, um, not doing the things that they used to do, not hanging out with friends they used to hang out with.

Their grades are plummeting. Maybe they're sleeping too much. There's not sleeping at all. It's, it's all of those kinds of things and sometimes it's nothing. And that's why I think it's so important for parents. I, it just did, not that I'm by any means, a, a, a great TikTok star, but I [00:19:00] just did a TikTok video about this saying what I wish we shared with every fifth and sixth grader.

Because by the way, middle school counselors will tell you they're, they're talking about suicide with their kids. Their kids are talking about it in middle school. I wish we could tell them early on before it's an issue. Hey, guess what? Sometimes people get so sad or so frustrated or feel so hopeless about life that they actually think about dying.

They actually think about killing themselves, and I just want you to know if those thoughts happen to you, it's okay. You're not bad. There's nothing wrong with you. It just means you need some extra help. And so I want you to know that. You can always tell us that. Always tell the teacher and we'll get you help because you don't have to feel.

Yeah, I wish we could tell all of our kids that so that they knew ahead of time. Um, 'cause what I've discovered, even with my daughter, was that she was having those feelings and she didn't know that they weren't something she had to live [00:20:00] with. She just thought that's the way life was and that she would always feel that hopeless.

And so sometimes kids don't even have the words. And it's our job as parents to give them the words ahead of time if possible. To understand, oh wait, this is, this is what mom was talking about. This isn't okay. I need to get some help. Yeah, it's like, as you're talking, it's like interesting 'cause we have conversations about puberty, about sex, about all the topics really.

And those aren't, and those aren't easy to talk about others. I was gonna say those are not, not easy depending on how you decide to do it. But um, but yeah. But yeah, like around the same time, we should be definitely discussing mental health, you know? And it doesn't have to just be the suicide piece, just mental health, feeling bad, absolutely feeling sad, feeling down.

All those things and what we can do to feel better or services that are out there to feel better, but it's just not a conversation that it seems to be with our kids in general. , [00:21:00] it should be just that straightforward. If you've got, if you've got a family history of breast cancer, I would imagine you're talking to your girls about that and, and, and it's a conversation you have.

They tell us to have those conversations over time. Right. Like it's not just the one big serious conversation. You have it over and over and over again. Oh, yeah. Aunt Betty died of breast cancer. Oh yeah. When you're this age, you'll probably start getting mammograms and they will not be comfortable, but they're important, you know, just.

Dropping those conversations in constantly as they're growing up so that they know, oh, there's a history of bipolar in the family. Here's what that might look like for me. Um, there's, you know, psychosis maybe. And this is what if, gosh, if I start experiencing this, I should tell mom and get some help. That straightforward, like talk about it.

. But then there are times that it's not in the family. Right? Absolutely, absolutely. Sometimes it just happens. Yeah. Do you have in your book some examples of conversations that can get these conversations started with your kids? [00:22:00] Yeah, I do. There's a list in there of ways to talk to teens and, and things that are more helpful and less helpful to say.

Um, as a parent, I have. I would say methodically tried all of the things that are less helpful to say, and so I can report back what does not work. All right. Well, what, what, okay. Give us one that is not helpful to say and one that is helpful to say. Okay. So here's a good one. You find out that your child's really depressed.

They're just feeling really terrible about life, and your very, very human instinct is mom. Is to say, oh, you shouldn't feel that way. Oh my gosh, you're so smart. You're so pretty. You're such a good football player. You shouldn't feel that way. Okay, well that, that just told your kid that, first of all, you're not listening.

Second of all, you aren't taking them seriously and you're certainly not validating their feelings. And if my husband does things [00:23:00] like that, to me, it makes me very angry. Right. Yeah. Just hear what I'm saying. So a more helpful response is after you take a deep breath and kind of tamp down your own fear and anxiety for feeling with it at a later time, is to say, oh my gosh, that stinks.

I'm so sorry you're feeling that way. I love you and I'm just, I'm, I'm gonna be here and tomorrow's gonna be better. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's beautiful. Right? Because the first one, it's like you're also telling them they're wrong for feeling that way and that you know better Yes. About how they feel. Right. So that's no good.

Yeah. And, and by the way, the next time they're feeling that way, they're not coming to you about it. Right. I know. It's funny, my daughter this morning called, she's been kind of sick. She's in college and she's just venting you know about nothing. Nothing good is coming out of her mouth right now. Right.

It's cold, there's tornadoes, she's sick. It's like, you know, it has to get to chem class, right? Uh, and it's 8:00 AM and she is like, and I'm [00:24:00] just like, mm-hmm, mm-hmm. You know, just listening. And I didn't even realize I did this. She goes, I really like talking to you, mom. And it's like, oh wow, why? And like, she's like, 'cause you don't say anything.

And at first I was like, oh my God, was I supposed to say something? Right? And she goes, but I feel like I can vent and tell you how I'm feeling. Um, and you don't try to make me feel any different about it. I'm almost like, oh good. I'm just sitting here not knowing, but I'm just quietly listening and listening is so powerful, isn't it?

It's just this skill that we, it's so powerful. You should be wearing like Mom of the year Tiara right now. Yes. Come on. Big, big time. Win for you. Big win. Big win. Now you did talk about a little bit of your own mental health while dealing. With your own children, how did you get through that piece? What did you do for yourself while, dealing with your daughter and your niece, there's a couple of things.

One was I got really focused on sleep. I'm gonna share something with you, [00:25:00] Lisa, that may sound very shocking to the moms who are listening. And, uh, I share it because I want moms to know you don't have to do what everybody else does. You need to do what works for you. And from the time we live about, we live about two, three blocks , from the junior high high school bus pickup.

And from the time my kids were in middle school, they were up, out the door and off to school sometimes before I got out of bed. Because I needed to get some sleep. That was the thing that was baseline keeping me going. And so I, I, you know, made sure that they had what they needed. I made sure that we talked the night before , but guess what?

That also created children who were capable of getting themselves up and out the door in the morning on their own, and they're all fine. They're all just fine. And Mom survived those years. Yeah, so for me it, [00:26:00] it really was making sure that I prioritized sleep. The other thing is to be really thoughtful about what works for you because I have friends who are runners, bless them, and for them running is very important part of their self-care.

Like they don't feel right if they're not doing it. I run when there are bears involved, I. Only if there is no one slower than me. Around faster than me. You know what I'm saying? Only if there's a chance that by running I will escape the bear. That's never gonna be good self-care for me. But, um, walking outside and noticing spring happening right now I live in Oregon and spring is.

Fully out and blooming and beautiful. That is really powerful stuff for me. And when I don't spend time outside, I feel it. Um, for some people it's knitting, for other people, it's writing, whatever it is, you have to figure out what works for you and then you have to carve time out for that. You need [00:27:00] those outlets.

And you're right, it's, it's never, I mean, we talk about this all the time. Self-care is really never the same. Everybody puts out kind of those similar things. You could go out in nature, take a walk, but if you have allergies and hate nature, like no, that's not gonna work for you. Right? Like that's gonna make you feel sick and have headache.

That's not gonna be awesome. Not gonna be awesome. Taking a nap might be for you, reading a book or whatever, , you gotta figure that out. , but unfortunately, the only way you can figure that out is to take a moment and try it. Right? And so sometimes, yeah, we don't always want to do that.

Or we pick things that are too big for us that we can't achieve and then we don't feel good about it. Like running a marathon, right? Yes. Yes. I'm gonna knit a king size blanket. Yes. Yes. I've never knit before, but that's where I'm starting. Right, and then you then, then you feel bad, right? Knit a strip. Yes.

You'll knit a strip. Yes. Maybe a scarf. Maybe a scarf for a doll. [00:28:00] Right. Exactly. Teddy there. Exactly. All day. Yeah. But as long as it makes you feel happy, it's good. Yes. Right now for me, self-care has been, I don't wanna get on the treadmill and walk and it has actually only, it's still raining all the time here, so I don't wanna get on the treadmill and walk, so I get to be on the treadmill if I'm watching American Idol, no, I get to watch American Idol if I'm on the treadmill.

Yes. And you know what? American Idol is ridiculous. And my 22-year-old will tell you it is complete fiction and there's no value to it. I don't care. It makes me happy. That's what I do and that's self care. That's great. I love that. I love, and I like American idols, so I've been watching too, so no worries.

Not on the treadmill, but lately I have to say, I'm a walker. I like to walk, and I've been like sick of my treadmill, and so now I'm like, all right, I, I'll take the dog out, but then every, all the other dogs are out. I come back and I'm feeling angry. So now I just started like popping on these like dance videos that I have on YouTube.

Nice. , the purpose for me is I do need movement. Movement helps. Mm-hmm. Me kind of get that [00:29:00] extra energy out. And I granted like it was fun. It's, that's fun. And I'm like, okay, I'm not sure the actual exercise level, but I do know my heart rate is up. I'm breathing and I feel good and I did something.

So I'm like, that's what I'm doing right now. So I think it can shift huge. It can change. Yeah. I went through a whole period of time where I was using my kid's, um, VR headset, his Oculus, and playing Beat Saber. Oh. And can I tell you, that was some serious endorphins right there. I, I probably need to get back into that.

It was so much fun. So yeah, it's whatever is good for you. Yeah. Um, and, and don't make excuses and say it's not, you don't have time for it. It's not important. You do have time for it, and it is important and you are worth it.

Now as a mental health advocate, someone who's promoting mental health, what do you hope changes in society over the next year or so?

I hope that we start [00:30:00] taking a really firm stand. Kindness for noticing people who are on the margins and taking care of them instead of judging them or or shaming them. I hope that we can start to really surround our kids with the message that their mental health is the same as their physical health and their brains are just like their kidneys or their.

Apart any other organ in their body and that sometimes they need extra help, extra treatment. I hope that moms can start to feel really supported and loved by other women. I think sometimes as women, we don't do as much of as much as we can to support each other and build each other up, and we spend a little too much time tearing each other down.

I don't think in this landscape, in this society, in this current reality. [00:31:00] I don't think we have time for that. I think we need to be really thoughtful and intentional about caring for each other and building each other up. Yeah. I, I love that. I mean, it's so easy to do, right? It really is just simple words, you know, just reaching out to another mom, letting them know that they're doing a great job, or

yeah. Oh my gosh, yes.

Now, what do you want parents to start doing today that are maybe dealing with mental health issues or not just, just to do today to help their mental health? Laugh, find something that makes you laugh. Um, I don't think we spend enough time doing that, and that's definitely been a weird unexpected part of my journey because when things were really hard with my niece, I started doing standup comedy and found that to be incredibly therapeutic and fun. Um, but you don't have to do it to enjoy it.

You could just go listen to whomever makes you laugh. [00:32:00] Connect with other people. Do not allow yourself to get isolated. 'cause that's so dangerous and, the one thing you, you do need to be on top of is noticing your own thoughts. Like, are you getting to a point where you're feeling hopeless?

Are you getting to a point where you feel like there's not, it's not gonna ever get any better. It's not. It's not worth trying. Life isn't worth being around. And I, in that situation, please reach out and get help. Yeah, please reach out. That's so important, right? Because when dealing with issues it can, it can drain you and you can feel the same way.

Yeah, absolutely. I do agree with the laughter They, I mean, laughter is the best medicine. I mean, they say that for a reason and I have a good friend who does laughter yoga, I think it's called, and what she always says is that you can actually start laughing, just laughing, even if it's nothing at all. And just the [00:33:00] act of doing it starts to make you laugh more and meant laugh more.

That it releases everything that is good in your body and you feel better. So yeah, I, I laugh, but even if you can't watch something or you know, just start laughing. I did that once. Yeah. Um, in my house though, I have to say warn your kids though, because you do look a little crazy. And they're like, whatcha doing mom?

Do we need to call someone for you? I was like, yeah, but it's contagious. 'cause other people started laughing even though, right. It's best medicine and it's contagious. All, all in one. Right? It's good. Perfect. Now where can the listeners find you and tell us all the things that you offer? So the easiest place to find me is my website, tararolstad.com.

And that's where you can find information about the new book. That's where you can find information about my speaking. , I also speak to, like I said, corporations and associations about how do you create a [00:34:00] culture on your team that supports mental health? Why would we do that? How do we, how do we make sure that we're supporting those who may be struggling or supporting ourselves?

And then also I have this. Program on self-care, meaningful self-care that makes a difference, that kind of gets past the lip service and helps people come up with a plan for themselves. That's all on the website. And then I am most active on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. And again, just my name, Tara rolstad

Well, thank you so much for sharing this important information. I think it just opens our eyes. It allows us to communicate more with each other and also with our kids, maybe starting a bit earlier than never.

Well, I appreciate the conversation. I think moms have so much power to support each other and make our lives. Mutually easier and more fun. And so I love anything that has to do with moms taking care of each other, taking care of themselves, and and supporting each other. So [00:35:00] thanks for the work that you do.

Thank you for listening to this week's episode. This is a really important topic that we need to keep talking about with our friends, with our loved ones, with their kids.

And if you're interested in learning more about Tara and all that she has to offer, just click on the link in the show notes.

And until next week, keep carving out time for yourself and keep putting yourself on top of your to-do list.