Even though I'm not a parent, as a fellow introvert and internal processor so much of this resonates for me. It's too late for me to have children now, but back when it was a possibility one of my worst fears about it was that I'd have to get up much earlier in the morning than I'd like. I hadn't even thought of this issue! I'm sure it would have been a challenge for me, too.

In my family growing up, my mom was the extrovert and my dad was the introvert. He got to be the typical slightly distant father of the times, and she took care of all kinds of things — while getting a PhD and then working as a professor! But at least schools were more chill back then; there were no activities she was expected to participate in or moms she was expected to befriend. .