The Voice by the Door
SHORT STORIES
The Voice by the Door
When I was a kid, leaving home usually sounded something like this:
“Did you take your sweater?”
“Your homework?”
“Do you have money?”
“Did you go to the bathroom?”
“Yes, yes, yes…”
I probably rolled my eyes more than once.
Years later, I found myself standing by the door saying almost exactly the same things to my own children.
“Do you have your jacket?”
“Your homework?”
“Your phone?”
“Did you go to the bathroom?”
And one day it occurred to me:
I had become the voice by the door.
There is nothing wrong with that voice.
It comes from care.
Our parents wanted to make sure we had everything we needed.
We want exactly the same for our children.
But there is a small tension hidden inside that care.
If someone always remembers for you, remembering never quite becomes yours.
Perhaps growing up is partly learning to carry your own checklist.
And perhaps being a parent is learning, little by little, when to stop reading it for them.