My three weeks of leave come to an end this week. If someone was to ask me how the three weeks went by, I probably wouldn’t have a specific answer. However, I do have a word that can come close to accurately describing this period and that is weird. I spent the first week in hospital where I was taking care of my friend who had undergone major surgery. The day we were discharged is also the day we found out that our friend, who I wrote about last week, had been hospitalised with a stroke. In the second week of my leave, he passed away and by the end of it, we laid him to rest. We are still mourning and reality of his passing is slowly sinking in.

That said, in between all this chaos, I have had a great opportunity to spend a lot of time with Kwezi and that makes me really happy. I have had time to observe her and enjoy the small surprises that truly indicate that my baby is becoming a big girl.

Just this week, she came and wrapped her small arms around me and told me ‘sorry’. I wasn’t crying or anything but I think my pain bounced off on her. That really warmed my heart.

However, I have also noticed that she is louder and I am not ashamed to say, annoying sometimes. I find myself screaming her name every few minutes because she has wandered off or she is running around a little too much or she is just, without provocation, screaming incoherent words.

I miss my peaceful naps. She and Jasmine who is only four months younger, seem determined to keep us on our toes. Nothing is quiet anymore. Everything is a loud announcement. I need water, I want to pee, I want bread, I want colour (referring to cartoons). The list of demands seems endless. This period has made me appreciate kindergarten and day care teachers a little more. When one child cries, there seems to be an automatic button that is pressed for the other to also start wailing. Some days, I feel like I need to run away and spend a day or two somewhere completely silent.

However, I cannot also exchange the time I have had laughs with Kwezi for anything. When I am not threatening to beat her up, we are actually playing and now that she talks better, I have enjoyed seeing her personality come out and it is exciting that I have had a glimpse of the girl that she is going to become. With all that said, I never thought that I would ever say this but I am now ready to go back to work.