I stared at the screen for a long moment, my thumb hovering over the keypad. Part of me wanted to brush it off with a reassuring emoji, but the truth was that I felt shaken. I tapped out a response: “We survived, but I realize we have a mountain of work to do regarding her digital footprint and emotional coping skills. Thanks for watching her back, even if things went sideways.”
Luke’s reply came back within seconds: “Always. Let’s grab dinner tomorrow night—just the adults—and talk about how to keep an eye on things without suffocating them.”
I agreed, though I knew the road ahead would require delicate boundaries. Parenting a pre-teen in an era where smartphones served as both social lifelines and weaponized arenas was uncharted territory.
