Letting Go of Shoulds

I’m writing this in the sanctity of my office, in the comfy chair in the nook of my narrow dormer. My door is open, and voices float up from below–five-year-old grandson and husband in conversation. They are discussing the weighty matter of former pre-school friends going to their respective schools just as grandson is going to his.

I have always written with my office door open wide. “Mom!” “Nana!” come the cries from downstairs, wanting to know how, what, when, where. Countless times over th...