Weekends Reclaimed

Weekend Amery used to be a myth.

Not because I was burned out — but because I was locked in. Grants to write. Papers to revise. Data to analyze. That discipline was real, and honestly? It paid off. It helped me land the job, secure the funding, build the lab.

But that season had its time.

This summer, my weekends look like: hiking trails, riding bikes, swimming pools, wading in creeks, picking berries, free tennis lessons, ice cream that melts faster than we can eat it. Fully present. Fully living — with these little girls by my side.

And what an honor that is.

I won’t pretend the mindset shift was easy. For a while, stepping away on weekends felt like falling behind. The mental load of all the work I wasn’t doing followed me everywhere.

But somewhere along the way, I surrendered to it. And that surrender? Genuinely freeing.

When we stop white-knuckling our weekends and let ourselves be present — really present — something shifts. The joy isn’t a distraction from the work. It feeds it. These little humans have taught me to enjoy life in a way I didn’t know I was missing.

Science is meaningful. Impact matters. AND it doesn’t have to be everything, all the time.

What adventures are you getting up to this weekend with your littles? 🍓 🚲 ☀️ 🏖️