If you’ve been reading along on Orlando Mom for any length of time, you know I am perpetually banging the drum on this one thing when it comes to simple self-care for moms: self-care is not selfish, self-care is not optional, and self-care is not the bubble bath thing.
So when a new survey of 2,000 Americans landed on my desk this week saying that 65% of us believe we’re “overdue” for a self-care reset — I felt that one in my bones. And I have THOUGHTS.
Let me unpack it for you.
The Survey That Said It All
The study — commissioned by Simply and conducted by Talker Research — dug into the disconnect between how much Americans need self-care and how rarely we actually get it. The numbers are wild:
- 65% believe they’re overdue for a reset
- 35% try to practice self-care but say finding the time is the biggest barrier
- The average American wants a moment to themselves about six times a day (six!)
- 46% feel some degree of guilt about taking that time
- Only 38% describe self-care as a consistent part of their daily routine
Six moments a day, mama. Six. And nearly half of us feel GUILTY for wanting them.
If you’re a mom reading this, you don’t need a survey to confirm what you already know. You feel it every time you sneak away to the bathroom for 90 seconds of silence. You feel it every time you sit down for the first time at 9 p.m. You feel it every time you scroll past a “self-care Sunday” post and quietly laugh-cry because your Sunday includes laundry, meal prep, and three people asking what’s for dinner.
We are tired. We are stretched. We are overdue.
Here’s the Plot Twist: Simple Self-Care For Moms Is Winning
The most powerful finding in the whole survey, in my opinion, is this:
76% of respondents agreed that SIMPLE self-care routines are the best.
And only 48% need 45 minutes or less a day to feel fully recharged. Forty-five minutes. That’s it. Less than the time we spend on carpool. Less than a Disney + episode. Less than the average grocery run.
Even better — when researchers asked what counts as self-care, here’s what topped the list:
- Taking a few minutes to rest (51%)
- Watching something they enjoy (47%)
- Listening to something they enjoy (42%)
- Indulging in a favorite food (40%)
- Sipping a favorite beverage (37%)
Nothing on that list is a $200 facial. Nothing requires an app. Nothing involves a 10-step routine. Nothing requires a wellness influencer’s blessing.
This is the EXACT same message I learned at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition when I graduated in 2019 — the concept of primary food. Your real nourishment isn’t on a plate. It’s in your relationships, your joy, your rest, your daily rhythms. The simple stuff IS the wellness plan. Always has been.
So why are we all so stressed and “overdue”?
The Wellness Internet Is Lying to Us, Mama
Per the survey, 65% of Americans stay aware of trending online self-care routines. And among the people who follow them:
- 21% feel overwhelmed by what they see
- 18% find it overly complicated
- A whole lot of us are silently going “how does anyone have time for this?”
This is the thing I am always trying to scream into my keyboard for Orlando moms: the wellness industry NEEDS you to feel like you’re not doing enough. That’s how they keep selling. That’s how the 17-step skincare routine, the $89 supplements, the wearable that measures your sleep efficiency, and the latest cold plunge tank end up on your radar.
But the actual data — and our actual lives — tell a different story.
Aundrea Graver, Senior Brand Director at Simply Beverages, said it well in the survey: “There’s something powerful about realizing that the things that actually restore us aren’t complicated. Often, they’re the same simple pleasures we’ve always turned to.”
A walk. A glass of something cold and bright on the porch. A good show. A song you love. A favorite snack. A nap. A 10-minute scroll through a magazine. A phone call with a friend who makes you laugh.
That’s the playlist.
The Nostalgia Finding That Wrecked Me
Here’s the part of the survey that made me genuinely emotional. 45% of respondents said most or almost all of the small things that genuinely lift their mood trace back to something they enjoyed as a kid.
Among those folks:
- 53% return to a favorite childhood TV show or movie
- 46% reach for a favorite childhood snack
- 39% said pouring a favorite drink (think: lemonade on a hot Florida day) brings them comfort
This is so deeply true and so deeply mom-coded I had to put my coffee down.
The reason a glass of lemonade on the back patio hits different at 43 than at 23 is because somewhere inside us, we’re still that kid in the backyard. The reason rewatching Steel Magnolias for the 80th time feels like medicine is because it WAS medicine for us once. The reason a peanut butter and jelly cut diagonally is comfort food is because that’s the love language we grew up speaking.
Self-care isn’t about reinventing yourself, mama. It’s about coming home to yourself.
How This “Simple Self-Care For Moms” Look for an Orlando Mom
Here’s how I’m trying to actually live this — and what I’d encourage you to consider this week:
1. Lower the bar. Way down. Forty-five minutes. Forty. Honestly, fifteen would change your day. Stop waiting for a free Saturday to “really do self-care.” It is not coming. Take 15 minutes today.
2. Build it around the simple stuff you already love. Cold glass of lemonade on the back porch. Five minutes of a favorite song before pulling into school pickup. A favorite show after the kids go to bed. The peanut butter cookie. The walk around the block. The page of a book at 9:47 p.m. Done.
3. Stack self-care on top of the things you’re already doing. Sun on your face while you’re outside with the kids. A real lunch instead of standing over the counter eating the kids’ crusts. SPF on every morning. (Speaking of, if you haven’t read it yet, this is your daily reminder to bookmark our Sun Protection: What You Need to Know guide — the simplest, most powerful daily wellness habit a Florida mom can build.)
4. Drop the guilt. That 46% guilty statistic from the survey is the part we have to keep working on. You are not selfish for wanting six moments to yourself a day. You are a HUMAN. Your nervous system, your hormones, your marriage, your kids, your friendships, and your future self all depend on you taking those moments.
5. Take cues from your inner child. What did 10-year-old you love? Buy that snack. Watch that movie. Make that drink. Walk that route. Listen to that song. The data says it works because — for most of us — it does.
More Self-Care Reading on Orlando Mom
If this is the kind of content you want more of, here are a few other places to keep going (some of these you’ll find linked here, others I’d encourage you to search around the site for):
- 🌞 Sun Protection: What You Need to Know — the easiest, daily, non-negotiable Florida-mom self-care habit
- 💕 Our mom mental health and wellness content — for the mom who needs reminders that taking care of YOU is the foundation
- 🌿 Our pieces on perimenopause and midlife wellness — because so many of us are quietly navigating this transition
- ☕ Our mom friendship and date night roundups — connection IS self-care (the previous survey on older adults literally proved it)
- 🏖️ Our Ultimate Guide to Summer — family fun that doubles as nervous-system care
- 🥗 Our food, recipes, and simple wellness posts — because primary food (what’s on your plate AND what’s in your life) matters
I want this site to be more than a list of events and deals. I want it to be a place that takes care of YOU, too. Because if you’re reading this, mama, you’re probably a few months overdue for taking care of yourself. We’re going to fix that — one small, simple, doable moment at a time.
A Final Word From One Tired Florida Mom to Another
If the only thing you take from this article is “a glass of lemonade on the porch counts,” I have done my job.
Six moments a day, mama. They don’t all have to be Instagram-worthy. They don’t have to be 90 minutes long. They don’t have to involve a product, an app, or an aesthetic. They just have to be YOURS.
This week, let’s all try:
- One glass of something cold you actually love
- One sit-down meal
- One walk
- One song
- One chapter
- One nap
- One real laugh with a friend
That’s the reset. That’s the whole thing. And you are absolutely, 100%, not overdue for it anymore — because you’re going to take it today.
Cheers, mama. 🍋
Research methodology: Talker Research surveyed 2,000 general population Americans with internet access; the survey was commissioned by Simply and conducted online between May 21–26, 2026.
