Last year my friend had shirts made for us that simply said, “Nope.”

It started out as a joke.

We would wear them at Friday playdates together, and they symbolized the exhaustion we felt by the end of the week.

We joked that any requests by our kids on Fridays would get a quick “nope” response. We had nothing left in the tank by the end of the week to fill endless requests.

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I still have my shirt, but it has started to represent something additional to me.

It represents all the things I don’t have to do. It represents a simple response to complex questions and ideas. It represents the expectations I do not have to meet.

Can I “do it all?” Nope.

Do I want to “do it all?” Nope.

Does stuff bring happiness? Nope.

Will I be a perfect parent? Nope.

Is life easy? Nope. 

So, if I can’t be a perfect parent, I can’t do it all, and life is challenging at times, should I give up??

NOPE.

-Brittany