Starting today, you are fired from being my central occupation. I am retiring from motherhood as a full-time job. I will be a consultant: available for emergencies, holidays, and the occasional jar of your grandmother’s pickled onions. But I will no longer lose sleep because you sent a vague ‘I’m fine’ text. I will no longer rearrange my calendar around your visits. I will no longer feel guilty for having fun while you work late.
You are an adult. You have a career, a girlfriend who rolls her eyes when I call too often, and a life that runs just fine without my daily prayers for your socks to match. And yet, I have been acting as your general manager—worried about your cholesterol, your heating bill, the fact that you haven’t changed your car’s oil in fourteen months. querido hijo estas despedido
I am firing you.
Do not feel abandoned. Feel released. You were never meant to be my anchor; you were meant to be my sail. And a sail, my love, only works when the ship knows how to steer without it. Starting today, you are fired from being my