For single Mums...

This past week, Dave has been horribly ill. In bed for 4 days; sore throat, bubble talk (you know when someone talks and sounds like they have the most ginormous bubble stuck in their throat?), headache, fluey symptoms, fever and just general loss of all energy. He was literally confined to the bedroom for three days solid, while Ava and I tried to keep out of the way to avoid dreaded lurgy. Poor guy.

Last week he had a school open evening on Thursday and came down ill on Friday - it lasted through til yesterday and, although he headed back to school today, he's still not 100%...

So since Thursday morning, I have been experiencing, on a small scale, what life must be like for all you single Mum's out there... when there's no-one to watch the baby while your cooking, no-one to help you with the bedtime routine, no-one else to comfort when those teeth make them grouchy 24/7, no-one to keep an eye on them while you grab a quick shower, no-one to just share the load. And its hard. Boy is it hard. Its hard when you tuck them in to bed and sit down on your own on the sofa for another night, wondering if there's anything you can do with yourself apart from trawl the telly for some rubbish... because you're too tired and shattered to actually do anything remotely productive.

My collapse on the sofa pose once Ava's in bed. I literally haven't had energy to do anything else...

I have SO much respect for you guys... what you do is so worthy of praise, and yet I know that so often you don't receive any "well done" because the only people who really see the sacrifices and the work you are putting in day in, day out are your kids, and they aren't always the most appreciative...

I know I have NO idea what its really like, because I'm talking about 6 days, not 6 months, or 6 years or anything like that. But I just think that so often you guys are unsung heroes and I wanted to recognise that what you do is amazing. It's incredible. And one day, when your kids are old enough to look back and actually see what you did, they will finally appreciate it fully.