<a href="http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/viewer.jpeg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-4519 alignleft" alt="viewer" src="http://www.everydaytreats.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/viewer-300x300.jpeg" width="300" height="300" /></a>When I called my very good friend the other day to wish her a happy birthday, I felt like an awful person because I've been absolutely terrible about staying in touch. After wishing her the happiest of days I started to apologize for being such a horrible friend and dropping the ball, etc... when she interrupted me.

"Just tell me one thing," she asked, "how do you do it all?"

How do<em> I</em> do it all?

ME?

"You have three kids and a husband who travels and a job and you volunteer at both schools and I don't know how you do it..."

I, um, eh...

I confessed that I don't do it all, and then tried to, in the five minutes we had before my friend had to get off the phone, explain in as non-rambly and succinctly a way as possible that we can't do it all and that we need to give each other a break and what's important in life, and all this stuff in the house, let's get rid of it, and, "OK, you've got the get off the phone? I get it love you, bye!"

It didn't go as elegantly as I'd hoped, but the mutual point got across -- we're all stressing out because there's just too much to do. And most of the pressure comes from within. It's something that stayed on my mind for days after the call.

A few days after that, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937134342/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=390957&amp;creativeASIN=1937134342&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=mothisblisort-20">MINIMALIST PARENTING: Enjoy Modern Family Life More by Doing Less</a><img style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" alt="" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=mothisblisort-20&amp;l=as2&amp;o=1&amp;a=1937134342" width="1" height="1" border="0" />, arrived on my doorstep. It was written by two dear friends, <a href="http://www.bostonmamas.com/">Christine Koh</a> and Asha Dornfest