I watched my son laugh and felt grateful he still does that at home

Dear Delyara, He is at that age now where so much of him is moving inward. More shrugging. More “fine.” More disappearing into screens and half-answers. So when he laughed properly tonight, head back, full body, over something ridiculous his sister said, I felt this immediate rush of gratitude that nearly hurt. I think motherhood becomes this strange business of collecting glimpses. A look. A laugh. A sleepy face in the car. A hand left on your shoulder for one second longer than necessary. Small signs that your child is still reachable and not fully lost to the world outside the house yet. I stood in the doorway and let that moment stay in me longer than it lasted in real time.