Going on a Date with Myself

When I wrote before about things I found difficult in motherhood, I left out something: the lack of alone time. I enjoy (most) people, and am not particularly shy or tongue-tied. But I am a classic introvert, and interacting with others makes me very tired, even though it's enjoyable. Often when I come home from a party or meeting, I am totally exhausted and want nothing more than to take a nap, even if I had a great time. Even interacting with B is sometimes too much.

So naturally I am very fond of spending time by myself. I've taken several vacations by myself (and loved it!), and love eating out, exploring new places and just relaxing solo. I can then go at my own pace, and do exactly what I want to do (with other people, compromise is inevitable, no matter how otherwise cool they are).

Having a baby is hard sometimes because since she can never be alone, everywhere I go, she goes. I really enjoy Little R's company, actually, and now that she is older she's even quite fun to eat out with (we went together to lunch at a Japanese restaurant the other day, and it was a blast to sit there with her as we both ate tonkatsu and boiled kabocha). But sometimes I just want to be alone and not have to worry about anyone else.

So today I had a special treat: a babysitter. She came for 4 hours, and while she played with Little R, I took myself on a date. First, I drank some coffee at the hawker centre (the coffee is pretty good here) and read my latest book (Xenophon's Persian Expedition: really good so far). Then I sauntered over to get a pedicure, which lasted an hour and a half and cost $18. It's been about 3 months since I had one and my feet needed some love. Next, I took a taxi to the Botanic Garden, probably my favorite place in Singapore, and took a stroll through the beautiful grounds. Then I went out to lunch at Halia. The set lunch (which I got for cheapness) included foie gras, which I ate before I realized what it was; it was actually quite good and reminded me of tofu. There were some toddlers there (even though main courses cost at least $40/plate), because it's Singapore, and I felt so lucky to be (temporarily) a footloose lady of leisure.

Then I went home to be reunited with darling R, who promptly ruined my pedicure. It's okay though: who could be mad at this baby?

Progress:
--Exercise: None; knees still recovering.
--Diet: Lunch: Spanish ham with walnuts and olive oil, fig, green apple and ginger-infused foie gras salad, bread, Riesling; Snack: 1 packet gummi bears; Dinner: Pork dumplings, boiled spinach with garlic, onion pancake. Drinks: Glass of wine, bubble tea
--Other: Drank 8 glasses water.