I am the type of daughter who is very open with her mom. I try my best to be honest with her at all times and refrain from hiding what’s on my mind. But there are just some things that I can’t share with her. When I say I’m open, I mean that I always tell her when I like a new boy, or when I dislike someone from school, or if there’s something happening with my body that I don’t understand. I share that kind of stuff. But sometimes, I can’t help but notice the small things that I know are slowly ruining her.

I’m currently on summer vacation, which means I get to spend more time with her at home. Being at home more means I get to see her throughout the day. She always told me how she felt neglected growing up, which urged her to shower all her love on me when she had me. Growing up, she gave up a lot of opportunities that, if she had a choice, she wouldn’t have let go of. I once watched a C-drama in which a girl time-traveled to the past and met her mother when she was just a student. I thought, what if I found myself in that predicament? I wanted to see how she was back then.

It might sound exaggerated, but my mom is the only person I can’t live without. She knows my quirks, habits, and anything that comes to my mind. Sometimes, I think that she never understands me, which is true. But there are such things as misunderstandings, and I don’t think these are reasons for me to resent her, because I could never do that. There are times when I fight with her and want to keep my distance, but after blowing off steam, all is well again.

One thing about her is that she can’t keep still. You will always catch her doing something. Even during her day off, she works around the house all day, which is why I try my best to get up early during weekends or vacation days to help around the house. Sometimes, I try to identify chores around the house that I think she would tackle later and do them myself so that she doesn’t have to do them anymore. But even if I tried to do all the chores, she would still find something to do instead of sitting down.

These are the words I will never tell her.