Setting: March 2026
This year, I’m experiencing something new as a parent.
Holden has real friends. Not just classmates he mentions occasionally. Actual friends he texts, calls, FaceTimes, and plays Roblox with. They seem to communicate constantly.
This is unfamiliar territory for me. I am shy and socially awkward. Caleb is more like me. Quiet, a little reserved. The whole “kids casually calling each other and chatting for an hour” thing was never really part of our household before.
Holden, however, has embraced it fully.
Lately he’ll leave his computer open on FaceTime while they talk, which means the camera is usually pointed somewhere into the living room. If I’m sitting on the couch behind him, or walking past the room, I’m suddenly part of the background of their conversation.
I try not to think about it.
One evening they were FaceTiming on Holden’s phone instead.
Phone calls alone are already outside my comfort zone. FaceTime is even worse. A video call removes the comforting illusion that no one can see you.
A few times Holden has asked if I want to say hello to his friend.
I have politely declined.
“Oh. No. That’s okay.”
While they were talking one night, they started discussing the possibility of a playdate.
From across the room, Holden called out that he wanted to go to his friend’s house sometime soon. Without looking up from my book, I waved vaguely in his direction.
“Sure. That’s fine. Just have his mom text me and we’ll figure something out.”
I assumed the matter was settled. Instead, Holden stood up.
Before I fully understood what was happening, he had crossed the room and was holding the phone directly in front of my face. My face was now on the screen.
And on the other side of that screen was his friend’s dad.
I was not emotionally prepared for this.
“Hi,” he said cheerfully. “Yeah, he’s been talking about maybe having a playdate with Holden soon, if he’d like to come over sometime.”
I couldn’t even make eye contact.
Staring vaguely off to the side, I muttered something like, “Yeah, sounds good… maybe over the weekend.”
And then it was over.
No plans finalized. No details established.
I avoided eye contact with the phone for the rest of the night.
This post is part of my One-Minute Memoir series — short reflections on small moments that still manage to say something big.
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