Gemotions

Sarah gripped the steering wheel so hard her knuckles were white. The school parking lot felt like a pressure cooker, each car a potential delay. Today was the first day back, and she was already late for her own meeting, which meant more emails piling up. Then, the realization hit. Little Leo was starting third grade, and the teacher…Ms. Peterson? It couldn’t be. Not *the* Ms. Peterson, with her uncanny ability to unearth a child’s innermost anxieties. A wave of heat flushed her face. This was going to be an ordeal.

She remembered the look on Ms. Peterson's face in the parent-teacher meetings she'd had. That disapproving, knowing gaze. It made her feel small, like she was back in the classroom, facing a test she hadn't studied for.

Leo bounded out of the car, backpack bouncing. "Mom! Come on!" His enthusiasm felt like a mocking echo of her own childhood. She mustered a tight smile and followed, each step heavy with the weight of her own past, now projected onto her son's present.