the 2nd shift

i read a couple of weeks ago, some self improvement book about women now. It has been said that over the decades many women have taken a more important role in society. Gone are the caveman days when women stayed in caves while men went out hunting bringing back a nice huge piece of meat for his family. Gone are the days where the role of women is mainly being child-bearing factories, wok swirling cuisine masters, dust reaping mop busters.

is that true..?

i doubt it. All that is stated above is still the reality now, with a little twist. Women now hold quite important roles in society and in the corporate world. We hear and read of stories about wonder women, who are flying and soaring above the clouds in the corporate world but at the same time being able to juggle the roles of a mother, a wife, a best friend and a daughter. Wat a mouthful.

ever since the passing of my beloved mother, pampered spoilt brat me has taken a new role in the family. New tasks were laid ahead and eyes were constantly on me to see if i could fill in the huge shoes my darling supermom left behind. I guess they were glad they're right. I couldnt fill it, eventhough i have huge, flat feet. I was disappointed though although i see it coming. My mom IS superwoman. She juggled her roles as a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a sister-in-law, an employee, a best friend and a handbag fanatic to perfection. The attributes of hers i took over? you guessed it - handbag fanatic. and it really stops there.

a sense of happiness did overcome me recently when i realised that slowly but surely, i am about 80% away from having my mum's superpowers. (aren't superpowers supposed to be inherited genetically and NOT manually?)

Having a new career, a new path in education and new cooking skills (thanks ibu!), i realised how painful yet soothing, how stressful yet calming, how energy draining yet full of vitality it really could be.

This new job is thankfully only on a 5 working day schedule, 9am to 6pm, which leaves my weekend practically all mine (and daddy's and hubby's and assignment time).

What happened last week:

Monday: Finished work at 6plus as i had a meeting, met hubs at lavender, went for dinner at Arab Street, headed for Marina Sq to get moustache removed, but ended up shopping for my stationeries at woodlands. i cooked, got home, bathed, and went to sleep close to 1am. Didn't wake up for sahur. All 3 concked out.

Tuesday: Finished work at 6plus. This time i had a meeting at the TPY office and met hubs at the mrt station as i had clumsily left my files with him. Headed for school and was late. Was in class till 10pm. Hubs fetched me, we went to shop and save to buy groceries at nearly 10.30pm. I started cooking sup ayam, with ayam goreng and with paru goreng at about 10.45. Served dad his supper, served hub nasi goreng which was supposed to be for sahur and went to sleep at nearly 2 plus. same thing happened all 3 concked out.

Wednesday: Finished work at 6pm. Went straight for school met hubs at 10pm. Went to visit mother in law at 10.30pm, reached home at 11 plus, heated the remaining sup ayam, served myself and dad cos hubs ate MILs nasi goreng. Too tired to clean dishes and went to sleep at 2am. Woke up at 5am, served sahur to hubs and daddy. but the rice got overcooked in the cooker and hubs cannot telan, so he went back to sleep. After clearing everything, got back to bed and only managed to sleep at 6.30am. Woke up and rushed to work.

Today: Finished work at 6plus. Hubs came to office to fetch me and see my wonderful workplace. We walked a bit, took a bus and had dinner at lau pa sat. Walked a bit more to raffles and headed to woodlands. 9.15pm went to metro cozway point to collect a jacket for one of our projects, reached home at abt 9.45. walked home in my tired feet. had a nice reviving shower, cooked for my dad since he hasnt buka puasa properly. (he only had biskits at werk) Washed all the dishes, cooked rice for sahur, took the laptop and started penning down my thoughts.

so in a typical day, me, a woman, like a lot of other women work 2 shifts. The first is the typical 9 to 6 office bound job, then we rush off home and we start our 2nd shift. The cooking, the cleaning, the laundry clearing. How do we really cope!

Stressed out, mentally tired, physically drained and all we need is a good somone to be there. Not just physically. But vocally, caringly, appreciatively and smiling. Thats all we ask and the imperfect days might just end perfectly.