Meagan Francis (@meaganfrancis)

"But mostly it gets easier, and I try to breathe into it. I try to hold them loosely. I try to have just the right amount of all their favorite things—the gluten-free ravioli and the cherries in syrup and the almond cookies and the bacon—but not so many that the vibe is more tragedy than joy, if you know what I mean." Oof, I do. And after a weird lull where I wasn't certain any of my fully-adult kids were actually going to fully launch, they are now launching rapidly, one after another. Everything is changing so fast and the changes are picking up speed. There are days I can hardly breathe thinking about it, and your evil capitalist conspiracy theory holds all the water, Catherine. And yet, there is also a big part of me that wants them OUT and finds myself inwardly screaming for SPACE. Sometimes I hold both of these feelings in the same moment. It's very confusing at times.