You're driving your daughter to practice.
You mention she seemed tired at her last game.
"So now I'm bad at soccer?"
"Honey, that's not what I said."
"Whatever, Mom."
"No, seriously. You're making it sound like I meant something completely different."
You take a breath, thinking:
I'm not going to yell. I'm not doing that again.
So you keep your voice calm.
But she rolls her eyes and says,
"Can you ever just say something nice, Mom?"
I can't just let that go. That's not even true.
So you explain yourself again.
And again.
By the time you pull into the parking lot, you're completely on edge.
You didn't yell.
But you spent the entire drive arguing anyway.
And what difference did it make?
You're still upset. She's still annoyed with you.
I don't know what else I'm supposed to do.
You've tried being patient.
You've tried choosing your words more carefully.
You've tried letting things go.
And everything still turns into an argument.
And lately, there's another thought creeping in.
Why do I even bother?
Maybe I should just stop talking.
But that's not what you want.
You want the drive to practice to feel easy again.
You're just tired of trying so hard and feeling like nothing changes.
🧡 Jeanine
Have you ever caught yourself thinking, “Why do I even bother?”
I’d love to hear from you.
