Dear Kid,

Sorry I didn’t answer the phone when you called earlier this morning.

Wait. You didn’t call? Must have been an oversight. According to the Rule Book, it’s a good idea to call your parents every now and then to make sure they remember who you are and how to send you money.

As I was saying, sorry I wasn’t available when you called. I was asleep. You probably knew I was sleeping and were being considerate in not calling.

Uh-huh.

You might remember that I haven’t been doing a lot of that recently. Sleep, I mean.

And I’d finally gotten to the point where not sleeping was no longer an option.

Bad things happen when one doesn’t get enough sleep. Like being tired. And cranky. And unable to form coherent sentences.

I haven’t been that tired in a long, long time. Tired to the point where making an ordinary decision is harder than climbing Everest. Where even caring about making an ordinary decision is harder than thinking about climbing Everest.

This is why I have such respect for single parents. I have Dad to make sure when I get that tired there is still a responsible adult around. I truly don’t know how single parents manage, but I’m crazy impressed that they do.

We had not gotten to the point where there was a probability of Really Bad Parenting (you and Pi are Old Enough not to play in the street), but we had gotten to the point where I didn’t care about basic decisions.

“Want to breathe oxygen?” “Too tired to care.”

So I not only went to bed at a Reasonable Hour, I slept far past the Normal Wakeup Time.

And I didn’t make my bed.

All of which put me in a Much Better Mood.

Even though I didn’t get to talk to you when called.

Love, Mom