Sometimes I look at pictures from my childhood and feel a kind of grief I didn't expect to feel as an adult.
Not because I want to go back and be a kid. I don't want to trade my life now for my childhood. I like being a mom. I like having my own home, making my own decisions, and building a life for my family.
But I miss how little of the world I had to carry.
When I was a kid, I didn't think about whether the bills had been paid, what we were having for dinner, whether there was enough money in the account, or what needed to be done tomorrow. Someone else knew those things. My biggest responsibility was usually remembering to bring my bike inside or being home before it got dark.
And time felt completely different.
