The school gate opened and I searched my son’s face before I searched for his bag

Dear Delyara, Usually I look for practical clues first. The bag, the coat, whether he’s got all his things, whether he looks rushed. Today I looked at his face first. That told me more than anything else could have. He looked tired in a way children do when the day has taken more from them than they can explain yet. We got in the car and I didn’t ask too many questions. Sometimes motherhood is not extracting the story before it is ready. Sometimes it is just driving carefully and making the afternoon softer than the day that came before it.