Carrying Your Weight

January 18, 2024

You know it's too much for one human to carry, but you're doing it anyway. You want to prove that you can do it all by yourself, all at once.

So you loop the bags over your arms one by one. You drape the lightest one over one pinkie and reach to close the car hatch. You struggle up the steps and fumble for your keys as you reach the top. You stumble inside, sigh with relief, drop everything on the kitchen floor, and hope you didn't break the eggs. You're breathless, your thighs hurt, and you have pressure marks on your inner elbows where the plastic pressed into them. But...you made it all in one trip, that's the important thing.

Or is it?

I'm all for setting stretch goals, especially at the new year, and for showing our kids that we should always give our best effort. But that doesn't mean we have to do everything all at once, or all alone. To the contrary: It's good to give others the grace of the opportunity to help. Kids should have a spot on the family team, too: True, there are some burdens young people shouldn't be carrying, but even toddlers can proudly lug a bag of carrots or a few soup cans. And take your time. Multiple trips are fine. Really.

Carrying your weight doesn't mean carrying everyone's weight, all the time. Supermoms tend to forget this. I hereby remind you.

—Deb