Did you look at your checklist today?

Of course you did. Even though it was completely unnecessary, because you were up until 2 a.m. mentally running through every little thing left to check off. The presents left to wrap, the gifts to put together, the cleaning in preparation for family to visit, the packing to go visit family, the school holiday recitals, picking up the turkey for the big holiday dinner, planning the holiday dinner, calling a sitter to go to this holiday party, buying a gift for that holiday party, and what was that other thing you needed to remember to do?

Oh yeah. Bake cookies for your preschooler’s winter party.

Let’s revisit for a moment what it was like as a child during this time of year. Thanksgiving would come and go, and the weeks (weeks!) until Christmas seemed to crawl by at a snail’s pace. Nothing important was happening at school because the teachers were all burned out and in desperate need of a well-deserved break. Afternoons were spent wasting away because it was too gross outside to do anything fun. But the anticipation! The excitement! About to burst at the seems with joy over what you imagine your mother’s face will look like when she opens the thoughtful-but-not-quite-useful paper-towel-mache thing you made for her at school on Christmas morning. Everything was lights and hot chocolate and carols and fun back then.

As the adult, though, there is so much pressure to squeeze in all of that goodness for our children. And in the era of Pinterest and Instagram, we are now acutely aware of how much better and greater everything could be than we would ever have imagined without an Internet connection. We love our kids so much that our hearts could burst, and we want the absolute best for them.

But the best for them is you, as you are—not on the brink of implosion. And while it sounds more social-media-praiseworthy to make those kale and cranberry cookies (so festive!) from scratch decorated with fondant and tools from your fancy cake cartridges, none of it will come to pass if you end up in the fetal position under the kitchen table from all the stress.

So tell the Internet to shut up. And just buy the damn cookies.

Keighty Brigman is terrible at crafting, throwing birthday parties, and making sure there isn’t food on her face. Allegedly, her four children manage to love her anyway.