Waiting: This episode is a spoken essay titled Waiting, from my book Ghosts of Parenting. It explores waiting as one of the quiet, constant conditions of parenthood, not as a pause between events, but as a form of attention that never fully switches off. We look at how parents live slightly ahead of the present, holding uncertainty, vulnerability, and future possibility so their children do not have to, and how this invisible posture reshapes time, rest, and relationship. This is not a parenting guide or a set of strategies. It is an attempt to name something many parents already live inside, the low level vigilance, the weight of care stretched across years, and the way love often shows up as watchfulness. The essay offers recognition rather than advice, giving language to a shared experience that is rarely spoken about, but deeply felt.