Grace in the Chaos

Today was Bring Your Kids to Work Day, and like many well-meaning parents, I had a plan.

Sort of.

I told my kids they were going to see a movie. I even believed it myself, until I realized I had never actually signed up for the event. Instead, we ended up at my company’s event—the one I should have planned for—but by then, the wheels were already wobbling.

My son had started to spiral the moment I broke the news. He was running around, overstimulated, and I tried to keep my cool. I told myself (and everyone around me) that he was fine, that I was fine. But inside, I was embarrassed. Mortified, even.

I turned to a coworker and quietly admitted it: “I’m so sorry—he’s just really off today.” And you know what they said?

“Don’t let it bother you. It’s totally normal.”

That tiny sentence gave me permission to breathe.

Still, the day had other surprises. I got called out at work for not sending an invoice last week. It was my fault—I’d missed it in the chaos of everything. But it wasn’t catastrophic. It was an email. I owned it and shared that I had already tightened up the process.

But the real shift happened in the afternoon.

I remembered what it was like to be the one running these events as an executive assistant—how I used to watch the parents juggle work and their kids with a mix of awe and low-key terror. And now, here I was. In it. Learning. Flailing. Laughing a little. Breathing through it.

And eventually, letting it go.

Because the truth is—kids ran around all day, not just mine. And nobody fell apart. Including me.

So, I went home, finished the work I needed to finish, and felt... okay. Accomplished, even.

The moral of today?

Maybe it’s this: Being vulnerable doesn’t make you weak—it just makes you real. And sometimes, that’s more than enough.

Tomorrow’s a new day, and I’m looking forward to it.