The show must go on

To propose a weekend plan is the luxury of the parents, to be inclined towards the plan is the prerogative of the child.

After experimenting with freeform locs for more than four months, I decided to retwist this month. My partner wears locs too and has not retwisted in a while so I booked our appointment together. We were scheduled for last Saturday which at that time I thought was a perfect timing because of Valentine’s day celebration.

Usually when one of us have these commitments, the other looks after the child. On occassions when both of us have seperate appointments, we book a child-minder in advance. The stylist’s appointment was different. We’d be going together and taking turns. We didn’t have the usual connundrum of what to do with our son. We just assumed he’d be with us, no sweats.

Well, I should have quickly realised parents could propose but the child ultimately disposes after my son returned from school on Monday. He took his first day at school bravely but the next few days gave a glimpse of what was to come. He woke up tired on Tuesday morning looking like someone that has exhausted his weekly quota of mental strength the previous day.

By Wednesday, he had developed cough coupled with a running nose. We gave him cough syrup and paracetamol but he was still running temperature and constantly looking weak. he had no appetite too. I chucked it up to being metally drained from his first day at school but the mum thought it could be a viral infection, possibly from school. By now I was growing suspicious of the week.

On Thursday all the excitement of having a free ten hours to myself when ESL went to school in the beginnning of the week had vanished. The extra devotion my ill boy demanded felt like a reparation for daring to leave him all by himself to strangers on Monday. I was tired and ready to say sorry.

However, I held on to the charming prospect of a new look at the end of the week after the stylist appointment. I thought this could see me through but that did not happen. On Friday evening, after noticeable bowel troubles, my son vomitted. We called appropriate health service and was booked.

We could only get a quick appointment outside our city so no choice but to drive the many miles. We did not return until Saturday afternoon. Personally, I didn’t blink all through.

This is me wishing you a better week ahead with my freeform locs. And yes, my son is fine now and should be ready to go again tomorrow. The show must go on.

Yours in Fatherhood,

La