Derek, thank you so much for reading this! I really appreciate you taking the time, and to share your kind words, which help a lot more than you might think.

Parenting for me has been very occasionally a source of great joy - and a whole lot of that helplessness you mention and yeah, trying to control the uncontrollable - I get that. It got easier when I stopped that. Finally figured out that it wasn't helping, in fact was probably making things worse, and certainly was only making me feel frustrated.

There's a point at which we have to just back off as parents but man, is that ever hard when you love someone so so so much and can see them hurtling down a steep slope on a bicycle with a brick wall right at the bottom, and all you can do is stand there and watch.

Thanks so much for your kindness, Derek. Your message was a lovely gift this morning.