If a grade school teacher were to complete this sentence, they would insert the word "Read". D.E.A.R time is a widely-used shortcut to let students know that no matter what they are working on, it's time to pick up a book

And today it got me thinking.

I hate interruptions. I like to stick to a schedule. I have only the essential notifications turned on. I rarely ever answer my phone. Email is responded to on my time. And since leaving my last in-house role, I can't say I miss the incessant Slack messages with the expected response time of 10 seconds.

Yet, there are a few things that break this rule.

I will always Drop Everything And...

• Race to the school when the school nurse calls, even when she assures me it's not an emergency.
• Respond to a text from any of my kids at any time of day, no matter what I'm doing because as long as they want to communicate with me, I'm here for it.
• Pick up the phone when a friend calls out of the blue. I have agreements with a handful of my besties that we will always pick up. "Is everything ok?" If it's not an emergency, we can talk later. If they need me, whatever I was doing before has got to wait.
• Help a fellow parent or one of my kids' friends in need. Today that meant talking my panicked cheerleaders off the ledge, driving to my 5th daughter's house to pick up her forgotten cheerleading skirt then dropping it off at the school. (I have 3 of my own and a lot of 'adopted' kids.) Last night it meant slowly driving alongside a 10 year old boy who insisted he would ride his bike home from soccer in the dark, me keeping his mom abreast of his travels. It truly takes a village.

Your decisions are always in the harmony of the priorities you set in your life. - Nitin Namdeo

I think of these little decisions as the "moments that matter" in my life. They remind me that even when my plate is full, my inner compass is always set to guide me toward living my values.

I don't do them with the expectation of being appreciated, yet I am fulfilled by knowing that I'm making a difference.

I don't endorse dropping everything for 'fake fires.'

I believe in boundaries.

I fully support the idea that "No" is a complete sentence (though I'm not good at it).

But in the moments that matter, I encourage dropping everything for the important things so you can remember who you are.

So, what will you drop everything for?