The last time I wrote this column, I told you how I was done with my leave and was ready to go back to office. I also told you about how I think Kwezi and I also needed a break from each other. So, her grandmother came and picked her up and she has been away for three weeks. How time flies!

At the time when she was leaving, I needed a break from tantrums and tears. I had a weird weekend and the first and only thing I could think about was how I wish she was around. Children are a weird lot. Sometime you are short of running mad when they are around you. Their demands are most times unreasonable and as I said last week, I think it is okay for mothers and children to have a break from each other.

That said, I feel like it’s time to put an end to this ‘trail separation’. I didn’t know just how much Kwezi is a welcome distraction when I am having a bad day. In fact, I found myself saying, I wish my baby was here.

We really are a unit. I spend almost all my time at home with her and besides the fact that we are mother and child, we are also a team. We enjoy each other’s company and strange as it may sound, we find solace in each other when times are rough.

Normally, there is nothing unusual about her spending a month or more with her parents. It has always been a tug of war getting them to allow me to have her back. All the children have grown and moved out and their grandchildren, who visit every so often, is all they have. Kwezi is not yet in school and I am raising her alone, so sharing her with my parents is one of the things that I find pleasure in.

When she went this time around, she had trouble adjusting and was nagging them for about a week because she wanted to come back home. I am told that she has since moved on. I thought this would be one of those visits where I would let her revel in the love and adoration of her grandparents but I need her back. I need my partner on this journey called parenthood. The break is over and I think that it’s safe to say that I am all ready for some drama, some unexpected words, hugs and random kisses. I am ready to have my Kwezi back.