Life as a university student, wife and mom can get a little rambunctious sometimes...most of the time. My day typically starts at 5:30 am just as the mornings rays start painting the sky in beautiful streaks of blue and orange. Some mornings my alarm seems so loud I feel like I could taste colours from the little heart attack it gives me. Dragging my death warmed up state out of bed I go in search of coffee. While the coffee is brewing I prepare my daughters things for the day. The smell of caffeine wafts through the house like a warm hug wrapped in sunshine. Then my hardest task for the morning begins - getting Zaylee ready for school, before I get ready for the day. Navigating morning traffic is as much fun as trying to bathe a cat, then come the tears, pleas and tantrums about going to school. By 8am I am back home getting my books and all the enthusiasm I can muster up ready for the day ahead.(Rite if Separation phase). By 9am I am on my way to campus. (Liminal phase) 

At 11am I receive the first call from my husband seeing as there is an 8 hour difference between us. this is my placebo effect scenario because after that call I feel refreshed like I have gotten a breath of fresh air. In between classes I talk to my friend about everything but nothing in particular. The last class (communitas) of the day always seems as interesting as watching paint dry. The day passes in a blur and I find myself on my way home with purple and pink hues dancing around in the sky. We arrive home around 6:30pm (Rite of Reincorporation phase). After making 2 different dinners that Zaylee decides she does not want we decide on noodles and 2 snacks before bath time. Once she is sure that my bathroom will not be distinguishable from a swimming pool it is time for cuddles. throughout the day my husband talks to me on whatsapp and then phones while I make dinner so he can also talk to Zaylee, some days are easier than others and others it is very noticeable that part of me is missing. 

After cuddles find myself groggy as it seems I have dosed off again. At least I woke up unlike some nights when I only wake up when the alarm for morning goes off. Up and at it again I find myself doing some menial tasks before i go ahead and prepare for tomorrows classes. I hot bath that could be the equivalent of magma some nights just melts away the stress of the day. My days typically end around 12am when I just lay in darkness listening to the breathing of the reason I do what I do. When I feel like I am drowning my family is really my life raft. Being a married single mother in university is not easy but worth it.

L Pienaar

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