My favorite shows to suggest to my friends who are on or about to go on maternity leave

I love watching TV. Love it. I work from home, so it’s pretty common for me to have a show running in the background (when I’m not listening to music). So many of my friends who are new moms have said since they’re spending so much time caring for the little one they really enjoy the moments when they can do absolutely nothing and veg out on some shows. They often come to me for good shows to binge, and while I haven’t watched all of the most critically-acclaimed shows (like Breaking Bad or Mad Men), I think I have a pretty good list.

Life in Pieces
This show is so adorable and hilarious. (It’s on its third season, but every year I fear it’ll be cancelled because not enough people watch it!) It follows the wacky lives of one family, but it’s split into four stories – one for each of the family members and their respective families. The first season is on Netflix and begins with one of the sons as his wife gives birth to their daughter. So it’s totally relatable for new mamas!

The Good Place
I cannot rave enough about this show. Kristen Bell is a gem, Ted Danson is amazing and the rest of the cast is awesome, too. In the show a truly awful woman accidentally ends up in the “Good Place” and she spends the season learning on how to be a better person so she won’t be kicked out. This is a show I LOVE chatting with my friends about because it’s so well done. They’re on season 2 now, and somehow they’ve been able to keep the charm of the show without being repetitive.

Glow
Women wrestlers. ‘80s soundtrack. What more do you need? This Netflix show had me hooked immediately and it never let go. I’ve been a fan of Allison Brie since Community, so I knew I’d be watching this regardless, but I never knew the depth of her acting ability. She is outstanding and so is this show.

Outlander
The costumes alone are reason enough to watch this show. A woman who’s on vacation in the 1940s mysteriously is transported to the year 1743 and has no idea how to get back to her present time. She must deal with surviving in a time without modern medicine and knowing the future (like how certain battles end). This show started out a little slow for me, but now I tune in every week to watch it.

Insecure
Issa Rae has had an amazing year, and she deserves it. Insecure to me is a love letter to black Americans. We follow Issa as she deals with ignorant coworkers, an unmotivated boyfriend and crazy best friends. It reminds me of Sex and the City in the way that New York City was its own character; in Insecure music is its own character and shapes the scenes just as good if not better than the actors.

Other faves I often recommend:

• Shameless
• Stranger Things
• Younger
• The Handmaids Tale (Though, I don’t recommend this to everyone. It’s a little intense!)

What shows would you recommend to new moms on maternity leave?