take sides.
I simply stopped pretending that my sacrifices had been effortless.
And something wonderful happened.
My children began to understand me not just as their mother, but as a person.
They asked about my university days. They wanted to know what I had hoped to do before I married. They listened when I described the classes I was taking and the projects I was working on.
For years, I had worried that reclaiming my independence would make me a less devoted mother.
Instead, it gave my children a chance
