The Daughter I Raised for Five Years Was Never Mine

I was tying my five-year-old daughter's hair when she threw a tantrum and smashed the new hair clip I'd just bought her.

"It's ugly! I want the butterfly clip Clara's mom got me."

Clara's mom was my daughter's new kindergarten teacher, Mildred James.

School had only been in session for a week, and already Ms. James had gone from "Ms. James" to "Clara's mom."

My husband, Toby Simmons, scooped our daughter up and pinned the butterfly clip into her hair, tossing me a casual reassurance. "Honey, she's just a kid. It's normal for her to like pretty things. Don't take it to heart.