It was only 10AM and I already felt done. I hadn’t even started my actual work, yet my brain was already foggy, my patience thin, and my body buzzing with decision stress. What to wear. What to pack in lunches.

There was a season when I couldn’t tell when work ended and life began. Emails during dinner. Slack notifications while brushing teeth. I was parenting and working in the same space, at the same time, all the time.

Every weekday around 4PM, our house turned into a battlefield. Not because of bad behavior — but because we were all emotionally tapped out. Homework became the spark that ignited our exhaustion.