Moms Do All the Things, Even When They’re Doing ‘Nothing’

Tonight I came home and made the choice to do nothing. 

As a working parent, there are a million things I need to do each evening to have us prepped for the next day and the rest of the week. And most of the time “a million”  doesn’t even seem like an exaggeration. 

But today, today I was tired. Like completely drained, can’t even focus to see what needs to be done next on my to-do list tired.

So I said to myself, “When I get home, I am going to do absolutely nothing.” 

And so, I did. 

Except first, I picked up my day-care kiddo.

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Then we went to the grocery store. 

Which meant I had to carry in bags and put away the groceries.

And then I cleaned out both girls’ backpacks.

Since the outside animals needed to be fed, the girls and I went to tackle that. 

Some weeds (somehow, in September?) needed to be pulled, so I worked on those while the girls played. 

Apparently, some people in my house appreciate clothes to wear, so I threw in a quick load of laundry. 

And dinner—even an easy one—needed to be fixed. 

The girls’ clothes needed to be laid out for tomorrow and lunches needed to be prepped. 

I replied to two school emails and a friend’s message that needed answering. 

The fort the girls built will need to be taken down before bed . . . 

But I really did leave things undone.

When I fed the animals, I noticed the goat pens need to be raked, but I decided that can wait till Saturday. 

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Those clothes (now in the dryer) already know they aren’t getting folded tonight. 

The dishes are only done because my husband is awesome.

And instead of sweeping the floors that really need it (because I actually decided I’d do nothing last night, too), I took a hot bath. 

I say all of that, to tell you this: if your do nothing looks anything at all like my do nothing—and chances are, it does—then it is OK to let yourself do nothing a little more often. 

Once in a while, make the choice to only do the have-tos and leave the should-dos for another night. Once in a while, give yourself a break (and even a pat on the back). Once in a while, do a little bit of nothing so that you’re up to going back to doing all the things another day. 

Originally published on the author’s blog