Liza d’Hemecourt is a resident of Falmouth.

It’s the end of winter in Maine and we have had record snowfall. Instead of thinking about spring, however, I’m thinking about next fall. I’m dreading it, actually, and I’m wondering if our family will be able to stay in my home state of Maine.

For now, we are like many other busy families raising children. We have been blessed with four daughters: two teenagers and 9-year-old twins. Needless to say, life is moving at a rapid pace, especially within the weekday hours of 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.

“These are the days,” as the song goes. We are blissfully busy with dance classes, horseback riding, sports and music lessons. Like so many parents, we have become self-inflicted Uber drivers, as we endlessly shuttle our kids to and from their activities. We do this against a blaring backdrop of competing messages from experts — “Kids need unstructured downtime!” but also, “Kids need more exercise!”

The biggest reason most of us break our bank accounts and put up with the labyrinth of schedules is because it feels normal and healthy.

We are trying to ignite interest in our kids, while keeping them off screens, and we feel a sense of responsibility to ensure they have the opportunity to learn how to get along with others, how to win and lose. Not to mention the added benefit of the sustaining friendships we form on the bleachers and in the hallways with other parents, all pursuing the same thing for the same reasons.

Some of us are trying to replicate or make up for the experiences we had as kids. Mostly, we consider ourselves lucky to be able to enroll our kids and we are proud to watch them from the audience and the sidelines.

As the older generations like to remind us, this chapter of life is fleeting. In a time when so much is controversial, it’s still almost a universal understanding that activities are good for kids. Most of us agree that this participation is positive and keeps kids from making poor choices in middle school and high school. Kids who experience a sense of belonging have better outcomes. Some industries even say that they prefer to employ adults who have played team sports.

Why bother worrying about November? Well, our family is at risk of losing all of this for one of our daughters. You may have unwittingly signed something that could strip one of our children of her ability to experience the rite of passage underscored by childhood sports. If you did sign, it’s likely that you thought you were protecting girls like her, slender, with sparkling eyes and beautiful blonde hair.

If you met our daughter in the hallways of her middle school or saw her on the lacrosse field, you would never know that nine years ago, we made the very difficult decision to change her name and pronouns because she was insistent, persistent and consistent about who she was. You would never know that because she looks like any other middle school girl. Which is exactly as she wants to be perceived.

You probably did not intend to hurt my beautiful daughter but, like me, you have many fears as a parent.

Now you know why I’m dreading November, when people in Maine will vote on whether she gets to continue participating normally in school, from going to the bathroom to changing with her team in the locker room, to playing lacrosse or any other sport she might like to try.

It seems innocent and expected that these things are just a part of any child’s experience in school. Please don’t vote against our daughter in November just because she happens to be transgender. Please help us keep living our normal, busy lives, piecing together complex schedules in the name of raising happy, healthy, well-adjusted kids. See you on the sidelines!