The Importance of May

The end of the school year has a unique kind of chaos. You’ve got Mother’s Day, end-of-year parties, sports events ramping up to high school championships, final exams, school drama performances, band and choir concerts, awards ceremonies, and dance recitals—all crammed into just a few weeks. It’s a blur of late nights, overlapping commitments, emotional highs and lows, and a calendar that feels like it's about to break. In all of it, it’s easy to lose your center and even easier to lose track of your kids' hearts.

But this season—crazy as it is—can also be one of the most meaningful if we choose to slow down just enough to make it about celebrating the kids. Their year. Their growth. Their efforts. Their quiet battles no one else saw. If we’re intentional, this season can become more than a sprint—it can become sacred.

1. Presence Over Pressure

You can’t be at everything. You will miss something. And that’s okay. What matters more than checking every box is showing up in the moments that mean the most to your kids. Be present when you’re there. Listen when they want to talk. Don’t overextend yourself just to impress anyone. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s connection.

2. Celebrate Growth, Not Just Outcomes

This is a great time to ask your child, “What was hard this year? What are you proud of? What did you learn?” When you reflect with them, you’re reinforcing that what they do isn’t who they are—and that you see the whole person, not just the end result.

3. Keep Home Grounded and Simple

Your house doesn’t have to be peaceful—it just needs to be stable. Make it a place where your kids can land without being managed. Even if there’s only 20 minutes between events, be there for those 20. Eat what you can together. Sit down when you can. Keep the tone calm when everything else is loud. These small, grounding moments help your kids catch their breath—even when you can’t fully catch yours.

4. Rethink Mother’s Day with Intention (For dads only, mom's do not read)

How can we move to make Mother’s Day feel like a highlight in the middle of an already packed month? There are ways to give back to mom. Dad's, organize the kids to serve mom. Simple things. Do the laundry, grab groceries, breakfast in bed, cook dinner, and of course, flowers are great. Make it the kind of day where you serve her!

5. Call the Season What It Is—Then Focus In

This time of year is intense. It’s okay to name that. When we do, it becomes easier to step back and ask: “What actually matters right now?” You may not be able to change the pace, but you can choose what you center around. Keep circling back to the heart of the season—your kids. Their stories. Their emotions. Their experience.

6. Why May Matters More Than We Think

How we walk through May shapes what kind of summer we’ll have. If we finish the year constantly running on fumes and never stopping to look each other in the eye, we carry that pace and tension into the next season. But if we use May—even in its chaos—as a time to stay connected, to encourage our kids, to reflect with them and affirm them, we enter summer with intention. May is more than a month to survive—it’s the runway for how we land into the slower, more spacious rhythm of summer. When we lead well through the mayhem, we give our family a gift that lasts far longer than any school program or sports banquet.

As the curtain closes on performances, the trophies are handed out, and the school year winds down, remember this: it’s not the events themselves that matter most. It’s how we walk with our kids and familes through them. The memories they’ll carry aren’t just the big moments—but how it felt to be loved, seen, and supported in all the little ones.

Let the chaos swirl. You can still lead your home with clarity, love, and a quiet strength that keeps everyone grounded—even in the storm.

Questions this week:

1. What tone or culture do I want to set in my home heading into summer—and how does that begin in May?

2. How can I practically slow down just enough during this season to create space for connection?

3. What does it look like to affirm my kids not just for what they do—but for who they’re becoming right now?