Self care for busy parents

I usually don’t get the time to sit back and enjoy a tv show during the week, but I am a strong proponent of sparing some ME time every day. It helps in relaxing, reenergizing and getting to sit with own self for some time.
I rarely get to watch any live streaming show. I usually enjoy my tv time at bedtime, when kids have gone to sleep. Following are few shows I love watching while having my coffee at bedtime.
• The Good Doctor: it is about a doctor who happens to be on Autism Spectrum.
• Living big in a tiny house: I simply love how people have created such innovative tiny homes.
• The undercover boss: being someone working as a CEO of a nonprofit, I get to learn a lot from this show.
• The voice international (singing competition): I love singing and The Voice is makes me more than happy.
I hope you can relate to any of these shows.

I am all over the place when it comes to tv, but I love nothing more than to lay in bed at the end of the day and watch a little tv before going to bed. It's very relaxing.

Some shows I've been watching recently are: Pivoting, This Is Us, Parenthood, Selena + Chef, Amy Schumer Learns to Cook, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and A Million Little Things.

I'm a sucker for cooking shows and they are great for relaxing because there's no plot to pay attention to. I love anything with David Chang or Anthony Bourdain. There are a lot of great options on Hulu right now.

When it comes to unwinding, I enjoy shows that catch my attention and keep it throughout - otherwise I find myself distracted and thinking about other things which defeats the object of escaping into a good show. I prefer watching limited series or mini-series, although there are some multi-season series I also love.

I enjoy a good mystery and love crime series -HBO's "Mare of Easttown" was a gripping watch and BBC's "Sherlock" (starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman) feels like watching a wonderful series of short movies. I also really enjoy series that have a sci-fi or fantasy slant. These series have an added bonus in that my kids who are older also enjoy watching them. In this genre, "Stranger Things", "Locke & Key", and "Shadow & Bone" have kept us entertained.

If you enjoy series based on true stories, the seven episode drama series "The Queens Gambit" is excellent and "Chernobyl" told the story of the nuclear disaster very compellingly.

Nature documentaries are also always captivating. "A Life of Our Planet" is Sir David Attenborough's testimony of how the world has changed in the last few decades. It is not always easy viewing, but it was impactful and moving. Other recent nature documentaries I've enjoyed are "My Octopus Teacher" and "Kiss the Ground".

Lastly, when I really just want to veg out, I will often watch an oldie but goodie like "Friends" or "Big Bang Theory".

We have 7 kids and I also work full time in a very demanding job that involves a lot of thinking. I really love a good bit of trash TV at the end of the day to wind down. I like shows that are an 'easy watch' and that don't involve having to think. Here are a few of my fav shows for winding down.
- Friends
-The Big Bang Theory
-Dance Moms
-Schitts Creak
- The Vampire Diaries
- The Originals
- Kath and Kim
- My 600 Pound Life
- Teen Mom

Many of these shows i will also re-watch as it helps me wind down and fall asleep. If i watch something new and exciting i can't shut off and relax. I hope some of these are to your liking :)

I am definitely more of a reader than a watcher, but there have been a few series recently which I really enjoyed.

Julian Fellowes has two series, one on HBO Max and one on Netflix. The one on HBO is The Gilded Age, and like its predecessor, Downton Abbey, it really draws you into the world of the early 1900s Old money/New money New York. It's quite good, with just one questionable scene of gratuitous nudity. The scene is important, but the nudity was completely unnecessary.

His other show, The English Game, on Netflix, I could not stop watching. It's about the early days of British football, and how the originally gentleman's-only game was forever changed by the working class. It was exceptional.

If you are looking for something to engage all your senses, National Geographic and Will Smith teamed up to do Welcome to Earth, a 6-episode show which follows a group of adventurers as they travel the globe for places which affect your six different senses. It was totally binge-worthy.

For something you don't have to invest a lot of brain-power in, and that's family-friendly, the Netflix show Mr. Iglesias is really sweet. Centered around a teacher and his students in a low-income area, it's low-key, and really funny.

Happy watching and vegging!