Maycember: Why May Feels So Hard (and How to Move Through It Differently)
Welcome to Maycember—a month packed with school projects, celebrations, tournaments, spirit weeks, recitals, and end-of-year events.
For parents, May has started to feel a lot like December. Just without the presents… or the time off. No matter the age of your children, it’s the final sprint before summer. And for many, it feels even more overwhelming than the holidays.
So this month, I want to talk about Maycember, and how to move through it in a way that allows you to enter summer with your health (and your sanity) still intact.
The part we don’t talk about
There’s a specific kind of exhaustion that shows up this time of year. Not from one big thing, but from everything stacking at once.
It’s the constant switching. The mental load. The never fully being “done.” It’s going from one thing to the next, collapsing into bed, and waking up already behind.
It’s noticing that even small things like a question, a request, a last-minute project, can suddenly feel like too much. And somewhere in the middle of it all, you quietly fall off your own list.
The invisible pressure to do it all “right”
There’s another layer here that’s harder to name. The pressure to do it well. To not just get through May, but to show up as the mom who has it all together. The themed snacks. The perfectly planned teacher gifts. The fully present, patient, organized version of you…no matter how full your own plate is.
I remember feeling this so strongly.
Watching other moms and wondering how they were doing it all. Feeling like I was somehow falling short if I wasn’t showing up in the same way. There was this quiet pull toward being… Pinterest perfect. And if I’m honest, it left me feeling more depleted, more behind, and more disconnected from myself.
I was not cut out for being crafty. It doesn’t bring me joy, yet I would find myself trying to keep up. And if you have a senior who is graduating, there’s more to keep track of than is humanly possible. Thank goodness I’m a boy mom, but it’s still a lot.
What I had to let go of
At some point, I realized something had to shift. Not my schedule. Not the demands of the season. They aren’t going anywhere. But the way I was holding it all.
I had to let go of the comparison. The invisible expectations. The belief that I needed to do it all perfectly to be doing it well. Because trying to keep up in that way was costing me the very things I actually wanted: my energy, my presence and my ability to feel calm and connected with my child. Isn’t that the point of being a parent?
And I started to ask a different question: What version of me do I actually want to bring into this season? Not the most impressive. Not the most productive. But the most grounded. The most present. The most like myself. And to be healthy through it all.
When overwhelm becomes normal
This pace we keep in May has become deeply normalized, especially for working parents. The running from one thing to the next. The lack of breaks. The feeling that this is just “what this season requires.”
But just because something is common, doesn’t mean it’s natural for your body. Because underneath the schedule and logistics, your nervous system is carrying the weight of all of it.
What’s happening in your body
When your body is constantly responding to demand after demand, your stress response doesn’t fully turn off. It’s not always obvious either. It shows up in quieter ways:
Feeling wired but tired
Waking in the middle of the night
Brain fog or difficulty focusing
A shorter fuse than usual
The afternoon crash
The sense that you’re doing it all… but the joy is missing
Your body isn’t overreacting. It’s doing exactly what it was designed to do during periods of sustained stress and that’s to help you keep going.
What’s missing isn’t resilience. It’s recovery.
You can’t remove the chaos, but you can change how it impacts your body
May might not be the month where life slows down. But it can be a month where you begin to shift how your body experiences that pace. Instead of staying in a constant state of “on,” you can create small moments where your system is allowed to come back down.
That’s where things start to change. That’s where healing happens. And we’re here to help.
A simple toolkit for Maycember
If you imagine your stress level as a bucket and each demand (big or small) adds to it, then these practices are what help you gently drain it, so you don’t overflow. That’s not good for anyone.
1. The Two-Minute Car Pause
Before walking into the next thing, whether it’s school pickup, a practice, a recital, take a moment to pause.
Sit in your car for two minutes. No phone. No noise. Take a slow deep breath through your nose, and a long loud sigh through your mouth.
Let your body finish the last moment before stepping into the next one.
2. Name the Noise
When you feel the build of overwhelm, like a tight chest, shallow breathing, or racing thoughts, stop and name it. “I’m overwhelmed right now.” “My body is in overdrive.” Not to fix anything. Just to acknowledge what’s happening.
There’s something powerful about naming your experience. It creates space—and that space allows your nervous system to begin to settle. And you regain some perspective.
3. Choose One Anchor Habit
This is not the month to overhaul your routine. Instead, choose one habit that helps you feel most like yourself. Maybe it’s a short walk, drinking your morning coffee in silence, or a few minutes of reading before bed.
Let everything else be flexible. Consistency in one small thing is far more supportive than trying to do everything perfectly.
4. Say “No, thank you” to one thing
Somewhere in your calendar is something that feels mandatory, but actually isn’t. One extra yes that your body hesitated on. Releasing that one thing can create more space than you expect.
Give it a try and remember that “No” is a complete sentence.
A final perspective
If your first reaction is: “I don’t have time for any of this…” that’s often the signal that your system needs it most. There’s a belief many of us carry that rest comes after everything is done. And I like to check things off the to do list just like you.
But in seasons like this, everything is rarely “done.” Rest isn’t the reward at the end of May. It’s what makes it possible to move through May at all.
You’re not asking for too much. You’re asking for enough. Enough space. Enough breath. Enough of yourself left at the end of the day to actually be present for the life you’re working so hard to support.
This is something I see often in my work with clients:
Rest isn’t the opposite of performance. It’s what makes performance possible.
And even in a full, demanding month like May, there is still room to begin.
If you need some support this May (or any busy time of life), my team at Balanced Living and I are here to help. We see you and all you are holding together. Our favorite thing is to provide support, reassurance and guidance to busy moms who are supporting everyone else. Sometimes that looks like helping you hold it all. And sometimes it is gently showing you which plates were never yours to carry in the first place.