Day 1
It’s Sunday morning. I awake before dawn, peel the tiny hands from my face, and rise to steal a brief moment to myself before I face the day. It wasn’t long enough.
Once awake and dressed, I offer Stormy her choice of breakfast — a treat to keep her mind busy. We end up at McDonalds. One happy meal later, we discuss the plans for the day. To put more accurately, I talk about all the ideas and “things to do in Singapore” that I’ve researched overnight — she wants to go home and watch TV. We find a compromise and go home and watch TV. I didn’t know it at the time, but this was the last moment of peace I would find today.
Before too long the day begins in earnest — we swim, play with her train sets, create intricate marble runs, dance. Everything to stimulate a 4yo’s mind. At this point, my mind would like nothing more than a cup of tea and to go back to bed.
We cap off the busy day with a play date that my wife organised before she left — I now have two 4yo’s to look after. Never before has the phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of the parts” been more relevant. But Stormy had fun, and that’s what is important. When his parents come to pick him up, we discuss the time for the next playdate. It’s up to me to organise these now — to brave the addressbook of mothers and fathers I barely know and invite their children to our house to play.
With such an exhausting day, she dropped straight to sleep at her bedtime. And if you believed that, I have a bridge for sale. Currently it’s three hours past her bedtime and she continues to come out of (my) bed to say goodnight. She has also traded her plastic toys for ballpoint pens as her bedtime companions. She tries to hide them from me but it’s with all the dexterity of a 4yo. I am unsure what colour I will be upon waking.
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* For those who missed the context, I’m not actually single. My wife has started a 5-month contract in Australia (yay). This is a Very Good Thing™. Stormy will be staying with me here in Singapore and I have great help both remotely (from my wife) and locally. I’m writing this purely for fun and to practice writing. :-)
