I found the school shoes beside my bed

Dear Delyara, I was pulling the duvet straight in the morning and there they were, one on its side, one half under the curtain, as if my son had taken them upstairs in the night for reasons only children and tired people understand. I just stood there looking at them, already feeling late, already hearing the kettle, already knowing one child still hadn’t brushed their teeth. It’s strange how much of family life is really just finding things where they should never have been. I picked them up, took them downstairs, and thought how often I begin the day cleaning up confusion I didn’t create but am somehow still responsible for resolving. That’s not bitterness. Just the truth of this season.