Hello, hello, and a belated Happy New Year to you all. I have been quiet, because I have been getting used to the shock of having a proper job again. I’ve had a lovely couple of years of working for myself, but decided my life was far too simple and stress free. I felt like I was really missing out with the daily panic of sorting out childcare so I can earn enough money to feed and clothe my child, and of course, myself. So, I went to the job shop, and this was the one I was most qualified for and, actually, I am absolutely loving being back in a room full of people again. Working for yourself is great, and much more convenient, but by crikey, it does get lonely, and there is only so much conversation you can get from two cats and a dog, they tend not to be too interested in current affairs.
One of the things I am loving about being employed again, is that I have somewhere to go every day. My daily routine used to be, drop Oscar at school, go home, lock myself in my home office, and drag myself out to pick him up from school again, then back in my office until bedtime. Now, I drop Oscar at school, go to work, which is a whole building outside of my house, and it’s full of adult people. Adult people that like to say, “Hello,” to me. Work until 5:00, then pick Oscar up from childcare, then home, tea and bed. Our time together is brief, but we do enjoy it so much more.
I don’t think I’ve kept it secret from anyone that knows me, or anyone that doesn’t, that sometimes, I find being a single parent to a headstrong boy, quite challenging. I don’t think there is any shame in that. If you spend 7 days a week in the company of just one person, with very little respite, regardless of their age, or connection to you, at some point, you are going to want to boil your own head. Just lately, Oscar and I have been clashing. We are both very stubborn, and we don’t have the buffer that a lot of families have. When we wind each other up to breaking point, (and I don’t pretend that I don’t irritate Oscar just as much as he irritates me, if anything, I am much worse than he is, because I am permanently pre-menstrual), there is no one that can just step in and keep the peace.
So, some time apart is a good thing. We actually enjoy spending time together now. Bedtime has transformed from the time of day where we can’t wait to see the bloody back of each other, to the time of day where we can’t wait to snuggle up and have a story, and a song. When we get to the weekend, obviously we still have our moments, we are both human, and one of us is only 5, and the other of us has the patience of a wasp that has just been swatted off a jam sarnie, but we do things together, because we enjoy what we have. This weekend, Saturday, Oscar was a little shit, so that one doesn’t count, but Sunday, we got up, had breakfast, and for the next 4 hours, yes, 4 whole hours, were spent with me throwing cuddly toys of varying sizes at Oscar, while he claimed I hadn’t actually hit him, because he had imaginary knee/arm/shoulder/foot (delete as appropriate) pads on. Oh, and it didn’t count if the toy hit his private parts, because they weren’t playing.
After the bombarding session, we played Guess Who. What a fucking waste of time that was! Oscar decided to change up the rules a bit, and every now and then, just flat out lied about his character. So, when I asked if the person had white hair, a moustache and glasses, and he said “no” to all three, and it turned out to be ‘Jake’ the moustachioed, bespectacled, old giffer with hair as white as snow, I opened a bottle of wine.