7 Practical Tips for Managing the New School Year, According to Nina Westbrook
Step three: Get your kids involved.
ByWendy Wisner via Parents.com | Published on September 3, 2025
Nina Westbrook is a therapist, podcast host, business woman, creator of a mental health app for moms called Nebbi, and founder of the digital wellness community, Bene By Nina. If that wasn't enough, she’s also wife to NBA player Russell Westbrook and mom to three kids: six-year-old twin girls and an eight-year-old son.
To say that Nina is B-U-S-Y would be the understatement of the year. But she’s also someone who’s super intentional about prioritizing her mental health and wellness—and balancing that with her career and family.
We caught up with Nina in August, as she was prepping for the back-to-school season—getting her kids school doctor appointments in; buying backpacks, clothes, and other school supplies; and fine-tuning the back-to-school routines her family thrives on.
Here are Nina’s tips for tackling the new school year.
Lists, Calendars, and Group Chats
“It's about preparation for my family, and not waiting until the last minute to do anything,” Nina says. That means making lists of all activities—pick-up and drop-off times, extracurricular activities, work commitments, etc.—and plugging it all into a calendar. She and her husband have a shared online calendar; she also shares one with her babysitter and nanny. Her husband and their helpers are in various group chats together, which Nina says are a godsend in making sure everyone’s communicating and on the same page.
Recognize That You Can’t Do it All
If you look at all the things Nina does, you’d think she’s the type of supermom who can do it all. But that’s not how she looks at it. “It's impossible to do it all,” Nina says. Rather, Nina prioritizes being present with her kids and making sure they have all the tools they need to be successful. “In order to do that, I have to rely a lot on my community,” she says. Community looks different for each of us, but for Nina, it means relying on childcare, parents, and her extended family members, all of whom chip in to make things run smoothly.
