Sometimes restraint isn’t active at all. It’s passive. It’s keeping myself from doing the thing that will leave me more exhausted than if I’d just let it be. And if you’re parenting teenagers— you know the restraint of not saying. So many urges. So much self-control. (So much growth happening anyway.) We all know the truism: Don’t do for someone what they can do for themselves. But the lived version is harder. Because if we breach it, we don’t just help—we coddle. We enable. We quietly train people to depend on us. The hard part isn’t knowing that this is true. It’s knowing how much to step back. And when. Most of the time, maturity is waiting just on the other side of the lesson they’re in— with another lesson right behind it. Life isn’t predictable. And neither is growth. But when we return independence to a child right on time, we don’t abandon them. We free them. To learn. To adapt. To become.

By the end of the week, decision fatigue often disguises itself as obligation. Not everything asking for your attention is a demand. Many things are expectations you never agreed to. Discern the difference this morning. Release what isn’t required. Less deciding now makes room for stronger choices later.

Midweek, nothing extra. • What was accomplished • What was subtracted to move forward Close the list. That’s enough for tonight. #MomJungle #LivingList #WednesdayEvening #SubtractForSanity #MentalLoad #DailyClose