If you’ve ever felt uneasy about how much time your child spends on a screen at school, you’re not alone. Across the country, more parents are contacting teachers and administrators to say, “I don’t want my child using a school issued device.” That’s a significant shift.

If you’ve ever stared at a half eaten plate and felt your blood pressure rise, you’re not alone. There’s something uniquely frustrating about paying for a meal your child won’t touch. Add in a friend who cooked all afternoon, and suddenly, picky eating feels like a public parenting failure.

When life becomes about maximizing every domain before committing to anyone, relationships become interruptions. Marriage feels like inefficiency, and family feels like a constraint. But here’s the quiet irony: The very things that feel inefficient are often the very things that produce depth.