I don’t mind admitting it, but at the moment I am really struggling. My life is not easy at the best of times, coping with a child that needs extra care, but now my wife has been taken down by gastroenteritis, and I don’t know how single parents cope.

Of course, this isn’t the first time this has happened. My wife seems to catch every issue that’s floating around due to working in education, including COVID before any vaccines and treatments were available. However, it is the first time I have really felt like I am on a treadmill. There’s always something that needs doing!

Balancing all the house chores, kids’ stuff, and working full time means that I am severely sleep-deprived and lacking the ability to grab some peace and quiet for more than a few minutes. I honestly don’t know how single parents do all the things they do. After months of using decaffeinated coffee, I’ve had to reach for the hard stuff simply to stop myself from falling asleep.

I have hope that my wife will start to feel better soon, although that light at the end of the tunnel does not seem to have been switched on yet. We split the work needed to keep our home running pretty evenly anyway, but this is a struggle.