We wake up, dole weet-bix and porridge into little bowls, mediate squabbles, talk our eldest down from rages. Bags are packed, lunch made, drink bottles refilled. Tasks that we repeat over and over, words that we say again, problems that won’t go away.

Sometimes the changing date is the only signifier that time is passing. When you feel trapped in the same battles it can be difficult to see the tiny, ever so hopeful signs that things are changing. Hard to appreciate the tasks that seem ‘easy’ until they morph into tussles. There is always something to challenge you, something to push you and something that redeems it all.

Doing life with others is such an important part of this stage. Time inconceivably flies for all of us when we are hanging out with friends and family, doing the same tasks together but somehow the burden feels lighter for a moment. Kids race off with shrieks of delight, adults get to breathe for a minute and share the pain and reward of raising children in community.

This past week has been a great test of will, going deeply back into survival mode and having to withdraw from society. I realise again how much I need friends and family around me. Without it I am fragile, weak, irrational – the worst version of myself. Community is really something I simply cannot do without.

This post is part of the #Write31Days challenge that I’m participating in along with a talented community of other writers. We free write for five minutes (or more) guided by a prompt. Today’s prompt is ‘date’. 

For more information on 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes, check out Christina Hubbard’s site!