You, hey you, yeah. The one who stayed up too late grading papers/working on your presentation/answering overdue emails/filling an order/finishing your presentation.

You! Yes you! I am talking to you the one who vacuumed/packed lunches/did dishes/folded laundry/chose the family heath insurance plan when your body was begging you to just go to bed.

I know what your weekend plans may look like. Maybe there are birthday parties and soccer games and dance classes and swim lessons that have already been committed to. Maybe there are houses to be cleaned and meals for the week to be made and groceries to be bought and leaves to be raked. Maybe there is still more work in the they-pay-me-to-do-this sense. Maybe there is Mount Saint Laundry that hasn’t been folded in three weeks waiting to be folded and put into drawers. (Of course that last one is purely hypothetical.

You, hey, YOU! I know you have apologized what feels like a few thousand times this week. Becuase dinner wasn’t done. Because the birthday present wasn’t bought, because the email was late. Because you were just. too. tired. I know you want to cry everytime you have to say your sorry. I know you want to apologize for that too.

This weekend. THIS WEEKEND, not some imaginary future weekend that you promise yourself you are going to get to. Take your to-do list and cross as much out as you can. Feed the kids grilled cheese and raw apples for a few days next week. They will love it, and they will survive. Give the birthday boy cash instead of running through Target like a crazy person. 5 dollars is a windfall to a 5 year old. Then on the top and between every other thing that cannot be crossed off write this:

BREATHE. In. Out. BREATHE.

Go to bed early. If it makes you crazy go ahead and clean the house tonight, but if you can relax amidst the mess leave the legos under the couch and just breathe instead. (Turn your phone off, that helps).

The reason this all-the-things life feels totally impossible is because it IS totally impossible. We aren’t supposed to do it all. Doing the best you can is more than enough. You are doing this. We are doing this. Imperfectly but beautifully we are running this race.

It is Friday. Order your family a pizza, cut yourself a break. You really want to make it special, light some candles if you have them (but do not go to Target to get them. This weekend let it be one less thing) or throw some towels on the living room floor and call it a picnic. If no one spills sauce on them, fold them back and pretend they are clean.

Then breathe. Just breathe together. You are doing this thing, and you are doing it well, and it is time we celebrated that.