Parenting has become an increasingly unpalatable affair in Singapore.

Not because it takes an exorbitant amount of money to raise a child.

Not because it devours my freedom and sense of identity (which was something that devastated me in the past but not really these days).

But because demands have risen all around — and from unexpected places.

It wasn’t long before I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to undertake my children’s termly projects from their childcare centre. On a stroke of luck, I facilitated the completion of my daughter’s Chinese homework. However, I was not done yet.

This year, I had to print out my daughter’s photo taken while doing the project. Wah! Which working parent would have the headspace for that?

Especially when I received a Parent Gateway notification that reminded me to facilitate the completion of the son’s connecto-gram by this Friday.

Needless to say, I did get him to do it. I’m efficient this way. But man, where children are concerned, their potential needs to be stretched like a taut rubber band, leaving little room for me to manoeuvre other pressing challenges.