In our household, the daddy-daughter bond is impenetrable. They’re best friends. Sometimes I envy their relationship, but I know I couldn’t have filled her days with joy the same way he does.
After serving my time as a round-the-clock milkmaid, we reversed the “traditional” parenting roles—sending me back to the world of office politics while Éanna donned the apron. That is, if you need an apron to air fry chicken nuggets and play hairdresser.
We leaned into that lifestyle for several years, confident that being “one and done” was guiding many of our financial decisions. After Éanna had watched his fair share of Paw Patrol, he made the decision to apply for the Australian Air Force—one minor inconvenience: he wasn’t an Australian citizen.
Once he had—somewhat uncomfortably—pledged his loyalty to the King, we finally made some strides in his application. At long last—after a gestation period rivalled only by an African elephant—Éanna received a letter of offer from the Australian Air Force.
I was set on hiring an au pair to support what would be something I wasn’t quite comfortable with: single parenting. However, that plan fell through when fate took the reins, and work no longer felt worth sticking around for. We’d survived on one (and a bit) income for years; we could do it again. Roles reversed. That’s when the decision was made to walk away from a routine that no longer suited us and set off backpacking with Méabh, like two nomadic souls.
How do you help a three-year-old understand that her best friend has to go away for almost a year? Lucky for her, she had two gainfully aimless, unpaid adventurers—career break connoisseurs—who could spend precious family time together before he embarked on his Air Force journey.
Without understanding everything that’s going on, children are unbelievably clever at sensing change. We gently reassured Méabh that Dad was going away to work with Skye from Paw Patrol, and did our very best to soften what was undoubtedly a challenging time for our family—by framing it around the adventure that lay ahead for our little mother-daughter duo.
Last Sunday, Éanna left bright and early for his 12-hour drive to his new home. Méabh and I had an oddly mature conversation in the morning, explaining it would be just the two of us for a while. Today, it’s our turn to leave Beans and Bodie in trusted dogsitter hands and start our adventure.
