I waited outside the tuition centre and watched other mothers pretending not to be tired

Dear Delyara, We all stood there with the same faces. Polite. Functional. Slightly overdone in the eye area because sleep has become unreliable and looking alive is still expected. Someone mentioned homework load. Someone else laughed about snack costs. One woman said, “It never stops, does it?” in a tone light enough to pass as a joke. I smiled with them. I understood all of it. That’s what struck me most. How many women are standing in car parks and outside gates carrying invisible pressure with good posture and a neutral coat. I don’t think anyone would have called the moment emotional. It was. Just quietly.