I wanted the children to stop asking “where is it?” and start asking “where should I look?”

Dear Delyara, Not because I’m trying to become one of those mothers who turns everything into a lesson. I was just so tired of being the automatic search engine for the house. The charger, the football sock, the blue folder, the scissors, the glue stick, the other trainer, the permission slip, the library card. By late afternoon I could feel the irritation building in me in a way that made perfect sense and still felt unfair. They are children. I know that. But there is a form of maternal exhaustion that comes specifically from being treated like the final location of all misplaced things. I answered kindly most of the time. In my head, I was living a different life in which everyone had a small map and basic initiative.