This is Ask Lisa, a podcast to help people understand the psychology of parenting, now in the midst of a pandemic.

Psychologist Dr. Lisa DeMore, author of two New York Times best-selling parenting books, takes your questions.

And I'm co-host, Rina Ninan, a journalist and mom of two.

Some of what we talk about comes from raising children ourselves. Most of the time, I'll be getting

answers to your parenting questions. So send your questions to ask Lisa at dr.lisademore.com.

Episode 44, seriously, how do I face back to school 2021?

You know, you promised me a summer of love and restoration.

That was not what I got.

Nobody did, Rina. Nobody did. I had such high hopes for this glorious end to the pandemic.

You did. And you really set us up well if that was the ending. And it's sort of like...

I lied. I didn't mean to lie, but it feels like I lied to myself and everyone else.

But I think we all lied to ourselves.

We had to find a way to get there.

I feel like this is like choose your own adventure, except we're not getting to choose your own adventure.

It's like somebody else chooses the adventure.

And I'm trying to find humor in this, Lisa, because there's nothing funny about any of this.

I know. And I'm so, I mean,

Rina, I'm bummed. I'm legitimately bummed because there were things that I had really been

looking forward to. And I think that's the part about this phase of the pandemic that feels

sort of like a fresh new hell, you know, that they, we'd finally let ourselves get excited about

what came after, make plans for what came after,

and now we're canceling those plans. And that is so hard. It is hard. And just the disappointment

...