Some afternoons I still needed rest.

I scheduled it without apology.

Piper started preschool.

Her teacher said she was kind to children who cried and quick to ask adults for help when someone was hurt.

I felt proud, though I also wished she had learned that confidence in an easier way.

On a spring afternoon, she came home with a paper badge that read HELPER.

She pinned it to Bunny and said, “He helps too.”

Her therapist had taught us a phrase that we used often: brave children are still allowed to need help.