“Dad… My Back Hurts So Bad I Can’t Sleep. Mom Told Me Not to Tell You.” I Had Just Walked In From a Business Trip

That word had once made her scream at me in the hallway.

Years later, she used it herself in a parenting group.

Not for performance.

Because accurate language mattered.

She also refused people who tried to comfort her with:

“You were under stress.”

She would answer:

“So are millions of parents.”