Parenting makes you realise how time doesn’t move in a linear manner, like an arrow finding its bull’s eye. You place kaya toast and iced Milo on the table, thinking that hunger would do the rest. You hope that breakfast would end without any mishaps so that you can proceed to the next item on your to-do list. But, nope.

The daughter expressed greater interest in my bee hoon than her bread. She displayed her burgeoning grip skills with the chopsticks. Then, she finally started to eat the bread - but not before drinking her Milo out of two straws.

The son drank his Milo and left his kaya toast untouched. Just when I was mentally fidgeting about whether I should buy something else for him (and contribute to the growing food waste problem), he finally grabbed a bite. And another bite. Cue a sigh of relief. He would eventually have his breakfast; I just needed to leave it to his own devices.

Children move through life at their own pace, like the zigzagging path a bee takes when finding nectar. I need to learn to take their detours in my stride.