All in the family
Aunty Emelyn has returned to the Philippines to help celebrate her brother's marriage, and also for a much-deserved holiday, leaving my two daughters and me (and dad too, but mostly me) to fend for ourselves for 15 days.
In the weeks before she left, I joked about how I wouldn't be able to manage. There was more than a little truth in this. Being a work-at-home mum, I usually find it easier to let Aunty Emelyn be the enforcer so I can get my work done. I thought I might have trouble in her absence.
I knew I'd manage one way or another - how well though, I wasn't sure. Would my daughters end up going to school with morning breath, or yesterday's underwear? Would I forget to pack their sun hats? And what about keeping my husband satisfied? I calculated how many times I could get away with serving up pizza and subway sandwiches for dinner.
And so I joined the phalanx of Discovery Bay mums, taking their children up the hill to school each morning, feeling as if I could easily cash in my gym membership if I did this every day.
And I've discovered that something miraculous happens when your children learn you have all the time in the world to enforce the rules. Within two days, my two-year-old went from demanding that she fall asleep in my arms, in the beanbag chair each night, to putting herself in her own bed and, after a few short stories from mum, putting herself to sleep.
Her morning nap is now a daily occurrence, whereas before she napped sporadically. My four-year-old now insists on writing in her reading journal herself, since in the evenings I'm busy getting things, such as school lunches, sorted out for the next day. As a reward for leaving my home-office 'post' for two weeks, one of the mums has invited me to join her Saturday morning running group. Our goal is to run the Macau half-marathon in December. And as for my cooking endeavours, my husband is an understanding man.
Perhaps the most important thing for me, though, is that I've learned that we can take care of ourselves if necessary.
The neighbourhood amahs, Aunty Emelyn's friends, have been keeping an eye on me as I head off to school, or in the playground in the afternoons. They ask how I'm doing and I reply, 'Great!'
They laugh and say they'll call Aunty Emelyn to tell her she can stay in the Philippines then. 'Oh, no!' I say.
No matter what I've learned about myself and my abilities as a mum during Aunty Emelyn's time away, we'll all welcome her back like a member of the family. Because she is one.
