My middle-schooler is done with the online camp she was participating in at the start of the summer and now we’re confronted with a long expanse of calendar when her parents are working and where she’s at looser ends than we’d like. We, like many others I know, have seen our way through to be ok with her participating in outdoor activities with friends, observing all the appropriate precautions. However, unlike her older sibling who’s recently acquired a drivers license and is therefore self-mobile (at least when she takes one of our cars), middle-schooler needs some parental involvement in coordinating schedules, and that’s how I found myself earlier this week, texting with some friends who have a similarly aged kid, wondering about a gathering.

Just as I was about to hit send, I had a powerful yearning to suggest that we also get together for dinner, and I remembered with bittersweet sadness the many wonderful evenings we’d spent in each other’s company, at each other’s houses, cooking, laughing, eating, playing games. All the things that we can’t quite do in quite the same ways or anywhere near as easily. I had to say no to the thing I wanted to do because the thing I wanted to do wasn’t actually the right thing to do in that moment. Continue reading →