After Staff Contact Time, I dashed off to Long John Silver to grab my favorite two-piece chicken meal, walked as fast as hungry students released for recess to my home, parked myself promptly in front of TV to watch 30 mins of Netflix. Then, I resolutely turned it off to rest my weary eyes and battered soul by using an eye mask. Once again exercising great discipline, I hurried off to the bus stop to board a bus back to my workplace and grab my things to pick the boy up for school. I even cleared some marking on the bus ride!

Some colleagues looked at me quizzically but I had no time to pause and explain myself. I needed to sit the boy down so that we could tackle the task of writing his name behind his flashcards. All 180 of them. Luckily, we had until 2nd Feb to get it done.

Never before have my personal and professional identities collided so uncontrollably like current times. I don’t really like how I have to account for my minutes and seconds, but out of the blue, the son put two cards together and read 玩具. Okay, at least I’m not pouring my time and energy into an empty vessel.