The Art of Saying No (Even When Mom Guilt Kicks In)
If there’s one phrase that feels like it should be tattooed on every mom’s heart, it’s this: You can’t do it all. And yet, how many of us are still out here trying? Volunteering for school events, staying late at work, signing the kids up for every extracurricular under the sun—then wondering why we feel stretched thinner than the last piece of birthday cake.
Saying Yes on Autopilot
As a corporate mom with two busy kids in multiple sports, saying yes often feels like second nature. Yes, I can take that call. Yes, I’ll drop off snacks for the team. Yes, let’s sign up for one more thing. Somewhere along the way, it started to feel like being a good mom meant saying yes to everything—even when it came at a cost to myself.
The Moment I Chose "No"
Just this week, I was asked to help out with a team event for one of the kids. Old me would have automatically agreed, calendar be damned. But new me? She paused. She thought about the week ahead—early morning meetings, hockey practice, gymnastics, camp registrations, the mountain of laundry that might just qualify as a hiking trail.
So I said no.
Did the mom guilt creep in? Absolutely. That little voice that whispers, "You should do more," is always lurking. But I reminded myself that every "yes" to something else is often a quiet "no" to myself. No to rest. No to sanity. No to quality time with my family that isn’t spent in the car or on the sidelines.
Reframing What "No" Really Means
Saying no doesn’t make me less of a mom. It doesn’t make me unhelpful, uncommitted, or uninvolved. It makes me human. And if I want to show up fully for my family and myself, I need to protect my time and energy.
Permission to Protect Your Peace
So to all the moms out there battling the guilt and the pressure: you’re not alone. Your no is valid. And your worth is not measured by how many things you can juggle without dropping one.
Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is choose peace over pressure, presence over perfection. Let’s make space for the things that truly matter—and give ourselves permission to drop the rest.
