BUY
After the birth of my third baby, a friend signed up to bring us a meal and offered to grab our favorite takeout. Name the restaurant, she texted. Tell me your favorite thing on the menu, and I’ ll drop it off at 5 p. m. cheating, but what if shortcuts are actually a form of grace? What if shortcuts free us up to serve more often and— even better— with a more cheerful heart?
I will never forget staring at my phone, dumbfounded, processing this new-to-me permission. Wait a second. It’ s okay to sign up for a Meal Train and drop off food you didn’ t make from scratch? I had no idea this was an option. That would be amazing, I texted back, along with a sandwich order from my favorite deli.
It had never occurred to me that the old adage“ fed is best” could apply to mothers, too. But food is food. Dinner is dinner. With that perspective in mind, homemade casseroles and pizza deliveries are equivalent gestures of love.
BUY
NOW
For so long, I viewed shortcuts as a form of
Ashlee Gadd is a mother, writer, photographer, and founder of Coffee + Crumbs. She is the editor and contributor of You’ re In Good Company and the author of Create Anyway. She has spent the last ten years helping mothers harness their creative talents into powerful storytelling at Coffee + Crumbs— a beautiful online space where motherhood and art intersect. 42