Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Being a single parent (for 2 weeks)

I had to go to Sri Lanka for my brothers wedding for 2 weeks. My wife was unable to make it due to exams as she is taking summer school. So I decided to go alone with my 3 yr old daughter. I survived the long journey to Sri Lanka thanks to my daughter putting up her best behaviour. The next day we had the wedding and again the little angle held her composure while wearing her dress in extremely hot weather during the photo shoot and church ceremony. We spent the next couple of days going shopping, a trip to the zoo and the beach. I had an extremely good time with my daughter and stayed away from my laptop (except during the Axis2 clustering hackathon at the WSO2 office in Colombo) for two weeks. I rarely checked email :) , instead I played with my kid and made the most of the time. She loved to go in three wheelers (tuk tuk) and insisted they were much more exciting than the kiddies roller coaster at Wonderland :). The return journey was a bit tough due to flight cancellations. We got stranded in Paris for a day, but used that time to relax and rest a bit before making it home.
I am well versed with diaper changing, feeding and putting her to sleep, as I take care of her when ever I work from home. But washing her at least 3 times a day and feeding 3 meals and putting her to sleep was extremely tiring. I wonder how my wife does it everyday while being a full time student. My daughter thinks Sri Lanka is much more exciting and charming with ants, flies and butterflies to chase around, cows and stray dogs all over the place, bumpy rides in three wheelers and grand parents who are ready to care for all her whim's and fancies. Sri Lanka is indeed a charming place.