Today is my 47th birthday. This morning I got up at 6:45, made oatmeal for my 15-year-old, located my 13-year-old’s skating bag, cleared my husband’s wet towel from the banister, folded one load of laundry and started another. My parents called and asked the same question they’d posed the past few times we’d talked: How would I celebrate? My (unchanged) answer: A day of work, three hours of kid chauffeuring, and back-to-school night. Happy birthday to me!

A version of this article appeared in the January–February 2024 issue of Harvard Business Review.