On Our Own

Just a day before my husband was back. Malcolm and I officially moved into our new place, a rented apartment in the east near our favourite hangouts. Unpacking 60 boxes was an exhausting task. it took me days. I would travel to my new place with my mum and Mal and start cleaning, mopping, unpacking and organising. By the end of the day, which normal ends around 9 plus in the night, my eyes were literally seeing stars. My brain shut down, my reflexes retarded. I would stare at the same pile of mess sprawled on the floor for at least a good 15 minutes or so before I could finally figure out where to put them. I was obviously conked out.

We had the kitchen, Mal’s bedroom and the study area set up before my husband came back. The bigger furnitures such as our master bed, sofa, dining tables and chairs will take another week to arrive.There is still no internet connection and I am tapping on my estate’s free wireless network to write this. The signal is weak from our unit, but it works.

In the living room, we have an old bean bag, a few cushions, some of Mal’s little table and chairs for us to sit down for meals. The apartment is still empty and bare and it will probably take another month or so for us to settle in.

Still, I am relief to finally have our own roof.

Maybe I am too used to life with just the 3 of us or perhaps I am just a control freak who wants things to be done my way. I seriously think we can function better given our own personal space. No doubt, living on our own means less time for me to laze around as I have to do everything myself. There is no one to help out and there is less time for me to slack. But I seriously think all these responsiblities is not only good for me but for Malcolm, who is watching me all the time. I believe it is easier for me to teach him values and responsibilites if I practise it myself.

Malcolm is back to eating his meals, on his own, at the table with us, without the TV on. He is back to sleeping at his desginated bed time and is more willing to carry out his daily task. There is less struggle, less whinning and less tantrum throwing.

Sticking to our usual breakfast seems more possible now and we are back to our Rolled Oat Porridge with Honey, Peanut Butter Jam with Wholemeal Bread and Cocoa Cereal with Milk breakfast.

Nothing fanciful, perhaps even a little bit bland for most people but seriously, I don’t think I will ever want to trade our privacy, personal space and preferred lifestyle for ANYTHING, not even if it means less work for me.