Borrowed Pressure

I thought this letter would be about Leo's final sports day at nursery. Instead, it became a reflection on something far more uncomfortable: the invisible expectations we place on the people we love most, and how easily our own relationship with pressure can become part of their story.

Dear Leo,

This week, I want to do something I've never done before. Usually these letters stay between you and me, and this one still does.

But for the first time in thirty-seven letters, I'm not going to finish with a lesson. Instead, I'm going to ask for one.

Not from you. From every parent reading this.

I came home from your nursery sports day this weekend wondering whether I'd made one of the first real parenting mistakes of your life.

Not a dramatic one. And hopefully, not one you'll ever remember.