Wow! That was some celebration I had last night. But just so that I don’t get all complacent and slip away, the universe has a plan to keep me on my way. The hubby is out, out of country, on his most favourite excuse – work! Where he spends his days with breakfast, lunch and dinner meetings.

I on the other hand get to play dress-up. I step into the shoes of the single parent. And to make it worth the game, I feel like it is an obstacle race driving me insane. One daughter has a test. The other sleeps late at night. One needs to wake up early, the other refuses to wake up on time. I am caught juggling between shusshing down three blaring alarms between 6 and 6.30am, while whipping up a breakfast and wondering if it’s a Wacky Wednesday (one of my favourite Dr.Suess books). The morning haste has put me to the task. I barely survive and am glad we aren’t having burnt pan cakes for a head start.

Next up, I have a thousand and one chores to complete. A hundred errands to run without lifting my feet. Some tasks are made up of wishful thinking while others random to-do. While I work along and take phone call breaks, I feel put off there is too much on my plate. From cooking to laundry and assignments to class, when will this day come to an end at last? Huffing and puffing like a comical wolf, I finish my chores and wish I were free…

That’s when I hear the little teen waiting for a story from me. She looks sleepy but her eyes say otherwise. She begs me for a story to send her to slumberland just tonight. With a blog yet to go, I pick a picture book – The Gruffalo!

By the time I make it to the second page, Aha, Oho, my is done. I read the book aloud anyway. It is so much fun. It brings back fond memories from times until half a decade ago. When bedtime routine made mea here unsung. Tucked in one big bed, all three of us, the two little girls dreaming away into bed. Dozing off to stories from far and wide. When Daddy would be working in another country, quite out of sight.

As I get to relive one of those happy times, I feel single parenting is much better than being trapped in some fancy hotel, all by yourself after meeting a bunch of strangers in the name of work.

P.S. With more and more single parents on the rise, all I can say is Kudos, you guys have plenty of might. It is anything but easy to stick around for little angels, no matter how quickly they grow. While you have chores to finish, errands to run, jobs to complete and live a little for yourself too. It is times like these, when I realise, you are stronger and more patient than you think.

Notes to Self – I must start storytelling again! It is so much fun.