21. Pandemic Teens & Rollercoaster Days: Where’s the Manual for This?

Can nothing ever be simple?

Certainly not in my life. It would be nice just once if everything could go according to plan. Just one day where nothing goes sideways. No surprises. No stress. Just peace.

I remember being a child, loving roller coasters the thrill, the rush, the sharp twists and turns.
Now? I dread the next curve.
I brace for what’s coming, because something always is.
I can’t seem to enjoy a single moment of calm because I’m too busy waiting for the chaos to start.

Every time I feel like I’ve got a handle on things, something new pops up.
Every bit of progress is followed by a moment that screams, “Not so fast.”

It leaves me feeling… useless, to say the least.

How do other people deal with this? Do they actually cope? Or are they just better at hiding it?

And don’t even get me started on parenting books.
Honestly, I could shoot every author who’s ever written one.
Because, let’s be real most of them don’t have a clue.

All those pages of fluffy optimism, smiling families, and neat little solutions… please.
Where is the book that talks about this?
This kind of exhaustion. This kind of rage. This kind of heartbreak.

Surely I’m not the only parent riding the drama train.
Although… I might be part of the first generation of parents raising Pandemic Teens—now there’s a terrifying thought.

Comforting?
Not even slightly.