Every opportunity.
Every bit of joy.
That night, I sat beside her and told her something I wished I’d said much sooner.“Camp wasn’t a debt you needed to repay. Paying for it was my choice. Being your mom is my responsibility. You don’t owe me for either.”
I told her she didn’t need to make herself smaller to make my sacrifices worthwhile.
She didn’t need to refuse things she loved.
She didn’t need to apologize for having needs.
And most importantly, she didn’t need to become less of a child just because I was doing my best to give her more.
The next day, we went grocery shopping.
And for the first time in a while, Mia reached for the cereal she actually loved instead of automatically choosing the cheaper box.
It was such a small thing.But I watched her put it in the cart, and somehow it felt enormous.
It wasn’t about cereal.
It was about a little girl learning that she was allowed to want things.
That she was allowed to receive.
