Maycember: What The Actual Hell

If I ever silently judged you for being overwhelmed during this month, I sincerely apologize.

Not a parent? You still might find this post interesting. But feel free to skip this one if you have zero interest in anything related to children.

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Mother’s Day (2026)

I am on the homestretch of my first true Maycember.

Depending on your life algorithm, you may or may not have heard the term Maycember which - let’s just make this easy - is defined by dictionary.com as the following:

Maycember is the manic time of year when parents find themselves drowning in end-of-school activities, sporting events, concerts, awards, teacher appreciation days, graduation rituals, bake sales, summer camp paperwork, and Memorial Day plans.

Until this year, I somehow had more or less avoided the experience. Sure, we bought the teachers gifts during appreciation week and at the end of the year but I never felt inundated with tasks.

Maybe it was because my kids weren’t quite old enough yet, or because they were in a different school. Maybe because I was less involved at school or maybe I was just so busy with my businesses I wasn’t aware of how many balls I was dropping, but NEVER HAVE I EVER, Y’ALL.

To be completely honest, I used to think parents were just unorganized. It couldn’t be that hard to sign some field trip forms and show up to a school performance right? If only it were that simple.

Cubby Bear at A&W (2026)

There have been field trips and themed dress-up days. Fundraisers and oodles of summer-related educational materials to sort through. There was Kindergarten orientation night and then an entire week where my 5-year-old was “Kindercub of the Week” — which included: extra homework, using my finicky home printer repeatedly, and — most consuming — taking care of a stuffed bear for an entire weekend, journaling it’s whereabouts and then documenting with photos that I had to produce on said finicky printer. ::Deep Breath::

Friends, I spent my Mother’s Day dinner taking pictures of a stuffed bear in a high chair at A&W.

Throw in some exhausted kids thanks to all the activities and later evenings due to more daylight, two parents who traveled quite a bit, and you’ve got yourself a hullva month.

It was overwhelming and that’s with me not working a full-time job and only two kids that don’t do any extracurricular activities for the record. Judging by what I see in my feeds, we’re getting off fairly easy.

Next week my calendar is FULL of notes reminding me to send in extra sets of clothes and towels, and water bottles, and sunscreen and for the love of god don’t forget to pick them up at early dismissal.

Here’s the part where I acknowledge these are all normal responsibilities of parenting and my kids are privileged to attend a school that can do field trips and we have the resources to contribute and I feel fortunate to be able to take some time and be the parent who chaperones field trips.

And here’s the part where I apologize for thinking parents were just unorganized and should get their shit together because now that I have elementary-age students who have my (mostly) full attention, I see how overwhelming and very real this all is. Walk a mile in someone else shoes, eh?

Last but not least, here’s the part where everything in me wants to share a list of quippy tips to make this month smoother for all of us. But sometimes, you simply can’t do less. Sometimes things just…are.

Will I do things differently next year like block my calendar so I don’t take a personal weekend away in May? Yes. Will I continue to heavily rely on lists, reminders, and my calendar to stay organized? Always. That’s about it. I think the mindset of slower living is about accepting What Is and not always trying to hack our way out of everything.

So, if you’re like me, clawing your way through the month of Maycember, all I can say is hang in there, baby.

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