I made a brief visit to a dear friend who recently became a single mother by choice. We met when we were seventeen at a summer program for high school students on the campus of UC Santa Barbara. Between the beach and falling in love with a new crush every 3 days, it was adolescent heaven. But I digress.
As a “manny” attempting to give my friend brief reprieve from infant overnight call, I had mixed success. But as a friend looking to connect with someone I love and see infrequently due to geography, I succeeded.
We talked a great deal about child-rearing strategies and all the unsolicited advice having a kid seems to attract. I confessed some of the numerous rookie mistakes my wife and I made with our own kids.
My friend, a poet since her teen years, responded to my confessions by saying, “I’m beginning to think parenting is in the recovery.”