Snack, Sit, Breathe: A Latina Mom’s Guide to Self-Care

Motherhood doesn’t start when your alarm goes off. It starts before you open your eyes, running through the morning task list—getting everybody ready to walk out the door. In a fraction of a second, you get the system going, with you as the main force propelling the family’s pulse forward.

And it’s not just the morning routine—it’s a whole day in which you devote yourself, in presence and in absence, to those around you. When you’re not physically with them, you’re anticipating future needs or working ahead on tasks that will need to get done “before this or that.”

Magaly Tompkins is one of those always-on-duty Latina moms of three. With two girls, ages 10 and 11, and a two-year-old toddler, her schedule is full—something she graciously describes as “perfect chaos.”

“It’s non-stop from the moment you wake up. You’re on the go getting kids ready, getting them breakfast, getting their lunch ready, dropping them off, and then coming back home to clean, do laundry, you know?” she says.

But as busy as she is, Magaly has learned to make space for herself every week. She advocates for other mothers—whose energy can quickly deplete when prioritizing everyone else’s well-being—to carve out moments of self-care and self-indulgence to focus on themselves fully.

Those moments can be simple, yet profoundly fulfilling: sitting on her own, wandering inside her mind, caring for herself, and reconnecting with how she feels. Grounded in her Salvadoran roots, she enjoys the snacks tied to her childhood—those filled with the warmth of her abuela’s and mother’s flavors; it’s like a much-needed embrace of someone you know, love, and deeply trust.

For her, those small pieces of culinary paradise are Diana wafers—”my mom had those snacks at home for us when we were growing up as little kids”—and plantain chips, plátanos.

“And I love sabadora with café—that is the holy grail right there. It reminds me of my mom and my grandma making quesadillas at home, and it’s nice to be able to grab it at the store here.”

Self-care, she says, is essential to stay afloat.

The toll of neglecting it can be high—something she learned when her own health was at risk.

“[With my first baby], I had really bad postpartum depression because I wasn’t filling my own cup. It was all about the baby, and I was home 24/7. I would never leave the house without her. It took a while [for me] to realize I needed help. Now I’m far more aware of the risks. If it’s been a week and I haven’t done anything for myself, I just stop. You’re taking care of everyone else to your own detriment. I break down, start crying. I go into panic mode,” she explains candidly.

Evenings are her favorite time to unwind. “My self-care time is once everyone goes to bed,” she confesses, slowly blinking as if daydreaming of those precious moments. “I cannot wait for 8 p.m. to come, because by 8:30 I’m like, ‘All right, it’s me-time. I just want to relax.’ That’s when I have my snacks. I sit alone for a bit, enjoy my treat, watch my favorite show, or catch up on emails. But it’s definitely finding that alone time that’s necessary,” she emphasizes.

For Magaly, having her plantain chips or Diana wafers is calming. They fill her heart with joy. Connected to her family heritage—and to an earlier version of herself—they bring comfort. Even deeper, they offer an encounter with her younger self: the girl she was before motherhood.

An identity most of us lose almost overnight when a baby is born—one that, amid the duties of care, leaves our bodies like a specter, often hard to summon back.

That treat becomes a way to reconnect with the long-unvisited corners of oneself.

“[Having that treat] is like finding a piece of your older self. It’s something that just makes me happy and reminds me of being a little kid at some point. I can sit there and enjoy a little piece of little Maggie—that treat little Maggie used to love and indulge in.”

She tries never to run out of her indulgences. Having them delivered right to her door via DoorDash is a key part of that self-care routine.

“I just love it because I don’t have to leave the comfort of my home when I’m already busy doing a million other things—I can just order what I need. It has saved me so much time,” she says.

Otherwise, she’d have to either miss her morning window to go to the store or manage the countless preparations required to get three kids out the door for a quick trip. Neither option works for a mom who needs her tasks done before 2 p.m., when the school day ends.

As she navigates the challenges and joys of life with her little loves, she never misses a chance to remind herself of her own worth—as a conscious leader guiding them to become kind human beings, her top parenting priority.

Her daily affirmations, until recently stuck on her dresser mirror, are fundamental energy restorers: “I am strong. I am kind. I am blessed. I am loved. I am happy. I am beautiful.“

With a big, bright smile and a warm tone, she sets a standard all moms could embrace: self-care is essential to sustaining yourself in the one job that never clocks out and demands your full spiritual investment.

She reminds us it doesn’t have to be complicated.

“It doesn’t even matter if I’m just sitting in the car for an hour alone,” she confirms.

Or, of course, DoorDash that treat you love so much and enjoy it entirely on your own for a change.