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Tess Holliday is a force to be reckoned with.
Image courtesy of Tess Holliday
Which is fine, because I’m not going anywhere.
Holliday is quarantining in her Los Angeles home with her three-year-old son, Bowie, and her best friend.
First off, how are you doing?
Courtesy of Tess Holliday
For the first part of quarantine, I didn’t really leave my house.
And my best friend was like, you’re gonna wanna go for walks.
I was hardly ever home.
Courtesy of Tess Holliday
So now, I think I do more cardio than I ever have in my entire life.
I walk 3.8 miles every daythat’s my route.
I love a challenge, and I didn’t think I could do it.
Courtesy of Tess Holliday
Once I found out I could do it, I have been.
And obviously it’s helping me so much.
So I asked [my followers], How are you showing love to yourself today?
That has been really wonderful.
Yesterday, someone said they had a baby.
That’s probably the best part of my day, for my own mental health.
Do you bring Bowie on your walks with you?
Because we live in Southern California, I see a ton of kids out riding their bikes.
[Bowie] has not left our yard in a month and a half.
And I am definitely struggling with a little bit of Mom guilt.
I’m like, Oh, he could ride his bike, and he could do all this.
But its always better safe than sorry.
And it’s just nice to have that time to yourself anyway, right?
That’s why it’s my favorite part of my dayit’s my only alone time.
It’s been good, and I feel very proud of my body.
We’re in an actual pandemic.
And that’s still how I feel.
Some people are ordering Chinese takeout and not leaving their beds.
Some people are going for runs and doing yoga and whatever, that’s great.
We wouldn’t focus on that as much.
What are some ways that you’ve been taking care of your mental health?
I attempt to create a checklist each day of things that I need to do.
Some of that is work, some of it is personal goals.
I’ve been journaling.
I have been spending time with my little one outsidepainting, drawing.
I turned off my notifications for mostly everything except for emails.
Im also taking time for myself before I go to bed.
Do they understand what’s going on?
How are you dealing with that?
My 14-year-old, Rylee, is living with his dad right now.
I go to see him a few times a week, but we don’t go inside anywhere.
Anytime he gets a cough or anything like that, he messages me.
I’ve never been away from him.
My three-year-old, Bowie, has had a hard time in a different way.
He misses his friends that he went to Montessori with.
The first two weeks, he’d be like, Can I go?
And we’d say, No, you’re free to’t.
And he’s like, Oh, because everyone’s still sick.
That’s been hard, but I didn’t know how else to explain it.
There is no manual on how to explain it.
I’m sure it’s strange for your sons to be separated from each other, too.
Are they close, Bowie and Rylee?
Yes, they are very close.
They’ve been together since Bowie was born, every day.
But my older son chose to live with his dad because of the school that he was going to.
It is so funny you said that, because I literally was having this conversation with Rylee yesterday.
He and I both have anxiety disorders.
I’m very transparent and open about that.
And instead, I feel like we should do the opposite.
There’s a fine line between sharing too much with your kids because you do want to protect them.
It makes such a big difference.
But it is important to talk about.
Thank you for sharing all of that.
The only thing that has changed in his sleep routine is that he always naps, even at school.
He’s not taking naps here because he just won’t.
His attitude is at an all time high, which,same.
He loves bath bombsI can’t blame him, because I do, too.
I had a giant stash ofLush bath bombs, but he has single-handedly gone through almost all of them.
In the beginning, it was really challenging to get him to sleep.
But he is asleep every night by 9 p.m. unless something happens.
He sleeps until usually 7:30 or 8 o’clock the next day.
I’m luckyI’m glad I don’t have a newborn right now.
What has your relationship with sleep looked like these days?
I am not sleeping, and when I do sleep, it’s really stressful.
I am the kind of person that can sleep anywhere, anytime.
I can be in mid-conversation and then pass out.
I’ve always been able to sleep.
Now, it’s so difficult.
I use theCalm appfor guided meditations.
No one is sleeping at all, I feel like.
Is there anything else that you think I should know about your philosophy on sleep or self-care?
I just want to tell people to be gentle with themselves and be kind.
There’s no right way to do any of this.
I just think that we have to be kind to ourselves.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
