The group chat started talking about costumes and I considered moving country

Dear Delyara, School play costume requests have a way of making me feel like I’m participating in a nationwide experiment about how much emotional bandwidth parents actually have left. By 8:10 a.m. five mothers were comparing options, one had already found links, another had a sewing suggestion, and someone else said cheerfully that the deadline was “basically tomorrow.” I looked at the messages and felt the kind of despair only small, badly timed admin can create. I know it will get sorted. It always does. But in the moment, I genuinely wanted to disappear into a country where children perform in whatever they already own and no one discusses felt stars before breakfast.