Unwanted by Cathy Glass

Author:Cathy Glass [Glass, Cathy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers
Published: 2022-11-22T23:23:14+00:00

I’ll admit I found it difficult giving Lara all the responsibility for Arthur and pretending I wasn’t there. I’d spent years raising children, so I was in the mind-set of automatically recognizing and meeting their needs. It was second nature to me and also, to some extent, to Paula too, especially as she was at home all day. But it soon became clear just how much we had been doing. For example, Lara already settled Arthur in the evening or if he woke during the night; I’d insisted on it right from the start, although at present I was still getting up as well to supervise. But in the morning, if Arthur woke before Lara, I often saw to him while she got ready. That would have to change. Similarly, at present she was enjoying a leisurely shower each day without Arthur and using the toilet in peace. Add to that all the meals I made, the times I fed and changed him, and when Paula and I played with him, and we were probably doing as much for him if not more than Lara.

In some ways it was playing with Arthur that Lara really struggled with. Children learn through play and while Lara was very good at chasing him around the house and tickling him, she found it difficult to sit with him for any length of time and arrange activities. At fourteen months old he needed to be entertained with regular changes of activity and constructive play. Lara would sit with him for a few minutes, then quickly grow bored and expect him to watch television or a cartoon on my tablet. Arthur had arrived with toys and I had plenty in the cupboard. Lara knew where they were.

‘Swap them regularly and join in,’ I told her. ‘Make it fun.’

‘It’s boring,’ she said.

‘Not for him.’

Then there was all the time Lara spent talking on the phone or texting when she expected Paula or me to look after Arthur. I stopped this and was now continually calling her to come and look after Arthur or taking him to her. ‘Remember, I’m not here,’ I said, and she sighed.

On Saturday afternoon I was in the living room, hoovering. Lara and Arthur were there, and she was texting Frazer about meeting up that evening. Lara looked upon Saturday as her night out, despite it being cold and nothing much being open. Absorbed in her phone, she didn’t see Arthur suddenly grab her half-drunk mug of tea from where she’d left it on the coffee table until he’d tipped it all over himself. Neither did I or I would have intervened, but I wasn’t supposed to be watching him. Thankfully it was only lukewarm.

‘Look what you’ve done! I’ve got to clear up this mess!’ Lara exclaimed, seeing that as the worst outcome of the accident.

‘It’s just as well it wasn’t hot,’ I said, ‘or he would have been badly scalded. You can’t leave anything within his reach.’ Which I’d said countless times before.

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