I nearly cried over a school jumper

Dear Delyara, It was on the floor again. Damp, inside out, one sleeve twisted under it, exactly where I had asked them not to leave it. It wasn’t really about the jumper. It was the feeling that I spend so much of my life asking for the same tiny courtesies over and over while carrying the practical consequences when they don’t happen. Pick it up. Hang it up. Put it back. Bring it down. Don’t leave it wet. Don’t leave it there. I picked it up and felt tears come so suddenly it embarrassed me. That’s what being overloaded looks like sometimes. Not big breakdowns. A mother in a hallway holding a damp school jumper like it personally betrayed her.