Ode to Single Mothers

 

I have not been doing much active blogging due to certain reason which I will be putting in another blog some time later when the time is appropriate.

But, today, I would like to blog about a topic which in the earlier days, in this part of the world, the subject is not much being discussed. Society does not view this as something positive and most see it in another view – Single Mothers.

I have the highest respect for single mothers. I have close relative, ex-colleagues and colleagues who are single mothers. Why do I say I have highest respect for them? First of all, unlike their male counterparts, single mother will end up facing higher social stigma. Society looks at single mother as someone who is not able to hold a proper relation, poor family management etc. The lady is the one who will have to bear the brunt of the person who is being blamed for the breakdown of the relationship. Though we have progressed leaps and bounds from the days of cavemen, in general, our society’s mentality somehow is still left behind in the evolution process.

Secondly, it takes great courage to move on from a failed relationship, child custodian issue, visitation rights and all those nitty gritty, legal issues that comes along after the divorce. All these matters will drain you well before you have your “life after the divorce”. If you don’t have close bonding siblings or family members who help you to leave the baggage behind and move on, the emotional burden is like lifting an elephant off your shoulder!

Next, is the juggling of work and looking after the kid. After working like 8-9 hours in the workplace, coming back home, the Single Mother would have to tend to the needs of the kids and also doing the housework. Keeping a house clean is already an energy-sapping activity for a couple, now it’s minus one. You have to clean/ maintain/ upkeep the house all by yourself ! If you have toddler to take care of, you can practically tear your hairs out ensuring the kid don’t mess up the place after you have tried your very best to keep it clean.

Does a Single Mother have much social life ? All the attention is already being divided amongst work life and tending after the needs of the kid. How much of personal time or “MY TIME” do you have left after you have managed those around you ? Do you put much attention and care about your personal life and image upkeeping. I believe after taking care of the necessary, whatever energy left is best being conserved or to recharge and get ready for another day ahead. Unless of course the person is a well-to-do Single Mother where you can still hire a maid or having people around you to help you to tend to the house and the kid.

Over and above all the points mentioned above, I do look in admiration on the capability and strengths shown by Single Mothers. Any lesser soul would have wilt under pressure whether emotionally or physically. It’s much more on the person than meets the eye.

“ A TOAST to all SINGLE MOTHERS out there ! I cheer and bow to your strengths and characters ! ”

Computer Table Makeover

 

This post is meant to be posted some time ago but due to my absent-mindedness, it has been left collecting cobwebs before it reaches into the World Wide Web

My computer table has been loyally served me every since year 2003. It is a perfect fit for the corner of my room. This table was purchased from IKEA. Over the years, it has been carrying more “weights” as you can see more things have been added to the table. As a result, the surface of the table towards the end where the LCD monitor is placed is slightly curving downwards. You can see the surface of the table is no longer even.

The old computer table, sitting nicely in the corner of the room facing the balcony.

I can still recall how hard was it to bring this table back from IKEA to my home. Luckily on the day of purchase, there were only 2 of us in the car. The majority part of the table can fit into my Wira’s car boot but not the curved top piece. That has to be placed at the back sit of my car.

 Another angle view of the table

Setting up the table by no means is an easy task. We took a couple of hours to set this heavy table up. There are so many different parts to screw on and hammer down before it can properly take shape. It was quite a daunting task for someone who’s not good in handiwork, hehe!

After quite some time, or should I say a few months back, we have decided to look for another table. Quite frankly, it was quite hot to sit on the old computer table as the curtains and windows are covered by the computer table. You don’t get much wind from it.

Where else to get much inspiration and ideas but from IKEA. It’s no secret that many people go to IKEA for ideas or purchase their furniture. Some even engaged their handyman or designer to copy the concepts in IKEA for their own homes.

After seeing the latest IKEA’s catalogue, we decided to make a trip to IKEA and check out this computer table which we saw. It came in 3 different colours to choose from. Black, red or wood colour against white. We settled for the Black one of course. It just simply stands out and look elegant. You can never go wrong with this classic combination. It’s like an age-defying combination of colour.

Taa dah, the new black and white table – compact yet able to fit in nicely

This time around the boxes that comes with this table are not so bulky and can easily fit into the same car. Again, we set ourselves around 2 hours to complete dismantle the one computer table and fix up the new computer table. We OVERESTIMATED ourselves. What is supposed to be done in like 2 hours starting around 5pm, ended up at almost 9pm. We missed our dinner altogether !

After all the hard work, it feels very satisfying. Now the window is not blocked by the table and you get better air circulation here. Yes, it’s half the size of the previous table and you can’t put all the things from the previous table back to this table, but hey, it’s more organized and looks nicely tucked in the corner of the room.

Hopefully this table can serve me at least another 5 years or so

Now, let’s put the table to full use….