Read how single-parent Emily Elders stays in the moment with her daughter Mason:
Tonight my six-year-old daughter looks at me at this particular point in the evening and says, “Mom, can we please, please, puh-leeeeeeez go to the cemetery tonight? Like right now?”

If this sounds strange, it is. I don’t deny that.

But we go for walks most nights – at least, we did all summer – at sunset. There’s an old, overgrown cemetery a few minutes up the road from our house, and the first time we went, she saw the sign and begged to go there. ...

Tonight, it is hard to say yes; dishes in the sink, showers to give, lullabies to sing, books to read, and plenty of work-work to do before the alarm started its hollerin’ at 5 a.m. ...

Ironically enough, the reason I’m so busy right this moment is because I am preparing for heart surgery. ...

We’ve spent some time here learning cemetery etiquette – how to walk carefully so you don’t tread on those who couldn’t care less ...

[My daughter is] quiet for a minute, working on a particularly stubborn clump with her fingernails, and I’ve just gotten distracted by how long they are and started to wonder if we have time for a fingernail trimming before bed when she says, “Mom, does everybody die?”...