If you’ve ever found yourself standing in the kitchen at 5:30 p.m. wondering, “What on earth do I feed these children?” — or debating screen time rules, or trying to squeeze a workout into the tiniest slice of your day — then you know that motherhood is one big, long chain of decisions.
And not just big decisions.
The tiny ones, the repetitive ones, the ones that never end…those are the ones that quietly wear us down.
In this week’s episode, we explore the everyday negotiations moms make with our kids, our partners, our schedules, and most importantly, ourselves. And we kept coming back to three themes: decision fatigue, mom guilt, and the surprising freedom of choosing “good enough.”
Below is a recap of the biggest takeaways.
The mental load isn’t about time — it’s about brain space.
We talk about mental load all the time, but this episode brought it down to earth.
It’s not just doing the thing, it’s thinking about the thing:
deciding what to cook
deciding whether to send lunch to daycare
deciding which show is appropriate
deciding when you can possibly work out
deciding whether the house needs cleaning or the kids need your attention more
deciding if this is the week you finally meal plan (…probably not)
As Hannah said in the episode: “It’s not time — it’s brain power.”
The brain power it takes to sort through a million tiny choices all day long leaves us tapped out, irritated, and sometimes questioning whether we’re even doing a “good job.”
And that’s where the value vs. cost lens becomes a lifeline.
Value vs. Cost: A simple way to make decisions easier
Meredith introduced this idea beautifully: Every decision has a value and a cost.
For example:
The meal planning example
A mom who values eating around the table may choose sheet-pan meals over elaborate dinners because the cost (time + mess + mental energy) is too high in this season.
Another mom may value ease and peace in the evenings, so she chooses mac-and-cheese some nights with zero guilt.
Both are right.
The daycare lunch example
For Holly, the cost of prepping Iris’s food every day is higher than the value she’d gain by sending healthier options. So she chooses the daycare meals — and names it as a decision she feels good about, not guilty about.
The screen time example
For Hannah, the constant decision-making around TV — What can they watch? For how long? Is this appropriate? — was draining her whole afternoon.
So she decided: No TV on school days.
The value: less stress.
The cost: more art projects and a messier house… but worth it.
When we’re honest about what we value in this season, costs become easier to accept.
Good Enough Is Good Enough
This phrase came up repeatedly.
Not as a cop-out.
As a grounding truth.
“Good enough” means we stop chasing some imaginary ideal of the perfect mom — the one who cooks organic meals, keeps the house tidy, creates magical routines, and still manages to train like an athlete.
“Good enough” gives you permission to choose what matters today and let the rest be…good enough.
As Meredith said:
“Name it and move on.”
Name what season you’re in.
Name what you’re choosing.
Name what you’re letting go of.
And move forward without shaming yourself.
Remove decisions wherever you can
A big theme of this episode was reducing unnecessary decisions, not because we’re weak, but because we’re human.
Where can you streamline?
Where can you create defaults?
Where can you outsource?
Where can you eliminate a recurring decision altogether?
For Holly, it was incorporating a post-daycare-drop-off walk so she doesn’t have to choose when to move her body.
For Hannah, it was eliminating weekday screen time so she doesn’t have to police it.
For Meredith, it was releasing the pressure to train like an athlete and embracing the season she’s in: walking, Pilates, and baby-on-hip strength training.
Sometimes the healthiest choice is simply the one that keeps you from burning out.
A takeaway for you this week
Where are you carrying unnecessary decision fatigue?
Meals?
Screen time?
Laundry?
Workouts?
House tasks?
Your kid’s school choices?
Weekend plans?
Routines?
Ask yourself:
What do I truly value in this season?
What is the real cost of trying to live that out?
What decision can I remove, simplify, or delegate?
Where can I choose “good enough” and let the guilt go?
Motherhood becomes a lot lighter when we stop performing and start deciding with intention.
A reminder: You’re invited into our community
If you want support, structure, and resources for this kind of principled, grounded motherhood, our Get Mom Ready community is full of tools to help you live this out at your own pace.
You don’t have to consume everything.
It’s not a course.
It’s a buffet.
A tribe.
A resource library for whatever you’re facing this week.
