On Friday evening, I posted a little three-part Instagram story. In it, I gave a brief tour of my looks-like-a-bomb-went-off downstairs, then cut to me stirring a pot of one of our go-to weeknight meals. I declared it an example of one of my favorite life drumbeats: the idea of trade offs, those times when we knowingly let go of one thing in pursuit of a better thing. I wanted to share the reality that in this season, at these ages, the only way we can sit down to a weeknight homemade meal together is to be okay with June and Shep totally dismantling our downstairs while I cook. Do I like my house looking like a bomb went off? No. But I like eating a yummy dinner together more than I like having a tidy house, and so that is a trade off I can live with. The response to the Stories was swift – dozens of gals saying how encouraging this slice of “real life” was to see and thanking me for sharing it. This perplexed me a bit, even as I was glad it resonated. While it’s true that I don’t often share these types of messy “real life” glimpses, it’s certainly not because they don’t happen – it’s because I’m too busy living that chaotic real life to stop, capture it, and package it for sharing. But of course all of our lives look like this sometimes!!! (Most of the time?) Sometimes real life looks like this, and sometimes real life looks like every toy in the house scattered on the floor. That’s my life right now, and if it’s yours, too, know that we’re in the same boat – even if we can’t always see it. Anyway – in addition to the thank yous, many