For the past ten or so years, Caroline has taken herself off to Barbados for two weeks every winter, leaving her long-suffering husband to hold the fort. To be fair, it’s a freebie, so she can hardly be blamed. Her best friend, Bridie, is a tennis instructor and in return for giving lessons to the guests at a five-star hotel for a couple of weeks, not only does Bridie get free room and board but she gets to bring a plus one. All Caroline has to do is make up the numbers in the occasional game of mixed doubles.
That I haven’t collapsed under the strain and hired a cook or a housekeeper has impressed my mother-
in-law
This year, though, is different. Caroline now has a part-time job in travel PR and her company has just picked up a new client with several hotels in Barbados. That means she’s staying on for an extra five days for ‘work-related’ reasons. In effect, Muggins here has to play the part of a single dad, looking after two teenage boys and a dog, for the best part of three weeks. This is in addition to running three different companies, continuing to write articles and appear on GB News, recording a weekly podcast and overseeing major building works at our house.
It’s having to get up at 7.45 a.m. every day to get the boys ready for school that’s killing me. The website I run produces a round-up of the day’s news that arrives in the inboxes of our 19,000 subscribers at 4 a.m. every day, and even though I employ someone to do this, I like to read it through before it goes out. That means I’m lucky to get to bed before 1.30 a.m., leaving me with about five hours’ sleep. I was able to cope pretty well for the first week, but the cumulative impact of sleep deprivation takes its toll.
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