Rewind

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use. ~Earl Nightingale

I had a rare quiet afternoon to myself. Mervin and Angel had stayed overnight at my in-law’s place and Rachel stayed to herself as usual.

The morning was mostly gone as I spent it on the battle between my body and mind whether to get out from the comfortable nest of warmth. Thus, by the time I was up and about, it was a little past eleven.

Almost instantly, I proceeded to tackle on the chores that were left behind from yesterday, and the day before yesterday, and the days before. Guilt was my pure motivation. I dumped the clothes that needed washing into the washing machine, washed all the mugs and dishes flooding the sink, sat down for a quick breakfast, washed up again, cleared the filth Kristel left on the papers and floor as well, and was about to move to the other parts of the house when it happened again.

I had a sudden glimpse of an event I couldn’t resist penning it down. When I had the urge, I had to write. Dismissing the guilt weighing heavily on me, I brought out my laptop and started typing.

It all happened on an evening a few days before Rachel returned from her Shanghai trip.

Almost a month had passed without a man in the house. I am coping well without The Man and even managed to accomplish a few tasks which used to be His Responsibility.

On that commemorative day, I managed to replace a blown fluorescent lamp in the bathroom. I am most ashamed and most proud to say that it was the first time I had attempt to change a lamp except for the light bulb of my bedside table lamp.

My height heightened the difficulty of the task. Standing at just 1.56m tall, I was still more than an arm’s length away from the ceiling when I stood on the chair. There was no ladder in the house as the kids’ father had deemed it unnecessary and a waste of money. Therefore, it’s up to a great mind like mine to think of something to carry out my mission.

I was not bragging when I said I have great mind. In fact, my terrific brain came out with the brilliant idea of toppling a bucket upside down onto the chair and engaging my two bodyguards as the clasps on each side of the bucket as I ascend cautiously upon the newly elevated platform.

I was just thanking God for making me a trim figure when I heard my two bodyguards whispering to each other below me.

“Mummy is so heavy that the whole chair is trembling!” the little girl exclaimed.

“I think by the time she leave the bucket, there’ll be a deep circular impression on the chair made by the bucket,” the little boy mused.

Their chuckles weren’t suppressed though.

“Mervin, you’d better hold on tightly. The chair is shaking,” Angel warned.

“I know. I hope the bucket is strong enough to hold her weight though,” Mervin responded.

I had finally managed to pry off the cover of the lamp.

“Mummy! You did it! You are superb!” the two rascals didn’t forget to lavish encouragements on me.

While Mervin helped me to get hold of the cover, I unplugged the fluorescent tube from the starter or sparkler or whatever. Then I proceeded to release the circular tube from the three metal rings holding it into place. It was a breeze.

The next thing would be to secure the new fluorescent tube into the rings. It was a little tricky. Every time I got the fluorescent tube into one of the rings and tried to push it into the second ring, the fluorescent tube would come loose from the first ring. However, after several attempts, the new fluorescent tube sat nicely in place.

“Mummy! You did it again! You are super!” the two monkeys nearly jumped.

“Hey guys, please hold onto the bucket properly while I plug this thing in,” I begged.

With pride swelling within me, I tried to plug the starter-sparkler-whatever into the new fluorescent tube. As swiftly as my delight had mounted, it faded. I had inserted the fluorescent tube upside-down! The holes for the plug were somehow partly concealed!

Unwillingly, I detached the fluorescent tube from the rings it had already sat comfortably in. I expected the kids to laugh at me but surprisingly, they didn’t.

“It’s ok, Mummy. Take your time and be careful ok?” Oh, sometimes they really make me feel so small.

In spite of their consolation, I knew I hadn’t had much time left as the sun was quite low in the sky and it would be a matter of minutes before the sky turned into total darkness.

I turned the fluorescent tube and tried my hand on inserting it into the rings again. I guess the previous practices had perfected my skill somehow. The fluorescent tube slid into the rings after lesser attempts this time.

As I plugged the whatever-starter-or-sparkler into the new fluorescent lamp, I could finally heave a sigh of relief.

“Angel, can you try to switch on the light?” I was almost sure that I had done my job perfectly.

As the light flickered for a moment and lighted up the small cubicle amidst the semi-darkness, cries of joy flooded the room.

“Er… Please keep holding onto the chair before I come down,” I still had a final stepping down ceremony to make.

Waves of relief and exultation washed over me as I descended from the throne. Knowing that I can do it and actually doing it was entirely different matters. The latter made me proud of myself.

“Mummy, you are great! You are superb!” my two kids hailed.

I was almost floating out of the bathroom.

My kids surprised me further by presenting me a glass of Ribena. I gulped my prize down with gratitude.

“Mummy, you are so smart! You can change the lamp!” Angel gawked. “But Daddy could do it much faster than you.”

Sensing my face darkening, the little girl tried to salvage the situation, “But never mind, you are still very smart!”

Ouch.