It was always Jeff’s and Raven’s thing. It was their father-daughter bonding before he dropped her off in daycare: Pork barbecue and rice from the Filo food stall. Maybe a doughnut or two once the meal was over.

She was always late in day care. And that was one of the reasons why.

But with the lockdowns and with Raven starting primary school, it’s been a while since they hung out together. Jeff said he didn’t realize how much he missed it until they had their little date again today. Without me, because I was stuck at home in my oodie because the weather’s just ridiculously cold lately and I couldn’t be bothered doing some last minute makeup just to stuff my face with dumplings.

And so it was just Raven and Jeff at Dandenong Market today. By the time they came back home my dumplings were cold and I was practically hypoglycemic.

But it seemed like they had a good time. I should encourage them to do it more often, if only to give me a couple of hours of peace and quiet to read my book in peace.

*Raven at 3 years old