You’re Not Behind, You’re Tired: A Year-End Exhale for Moms

It’s the closing days of the year. Decorations are finally coming down (mostly). Family gatherings are thinning out. The calendar is suspiciously freeing up. And somehow, the world has decided this is the exact moment to “finish strong.”

If you’re anything like the moms I talk to—or like me—you don’t really want to push through one last stretch. You kind of just want to sit down. Maybe stay there for a minute. Maybe for the rest of the year.

The “Nothing Is Actually Wrong” Trap

There’s a specific kind of tiredness that comes with being a working mom who, by all outward measures, appears to be doing fine. It’s the kind that’s hard to explain because nothing is obviously wrong. The kids are fed, cared for, and mostly where they need to be. Work projects are (mostly) out the door. The house isn’t condemned. Life looks… acceptable.

And that’s where the trap forms.

Because there’s no clear crisis to point to, no visible emergency, you tell yourself you’re fine too. You tell yourself you don’t really have a reason to feel this worn down. So you carry the mental load quietly—the remembering, the anticipating, the managing—because explaining it often feels more exhausting than just carrying the damn thing yourself.

You scroll through everyone else’s Instagram reels and end-of-year “Wrapped” posts and think, Okay… I guess I’m the only one fraying at the edges. You’re not. Everyone is fraying. Some people are just better at hiding the loose threads.

You’re Not "Behind" (On What, Exactly?)

This is the point in the year when the “New Year, New You” noise starts getting loud. Suddenly it’s all about resets, pivots, and “optimizing” your life—like you’re a piece of software instead of a human being.

But what if you just… didn’t?

What if nothing is wrong—and nothing needs fixing right now?

You aren’t failing because you’re exhausted. And you aren’t behind because you don’t have a plan mapped out for January 1st. The truth is, you’ve essentially been doing the work of three people for the last twelve months. And if your only real goal for the rest of the year is to exist without a to-do list, that is plenty. Enough.

Finally…

This post isn’t here to offer productivity frameworks or another list of things you should be doing for yourself. It’s just a moment to tell the truth out loud. It’s possible to love your life and still feel completely burnt out by it. You can feel deeply lonely even when you are never physically alone. And it’s okay to admit you’re struggling, even if that admission only happens quietly, to yourself, while you’re hiding in the pantry.

You’ve been the pillar, the scheduler, the steady one, the breadwinner, and the person who knows where the Scotch tape is. For now, you don’t need to optimize anything. You don’t need to prepare for what’s next.

Let the weight drop, even briefly.
You’re doing a good job. Really.