// The Diary Game // 11-09-2025// Sanitation in preparation to resume business after postpartum

Staying at home for the past five months has not been easy for me. I have a business which I started in September last year. Due to the birth of my baby boy, I have been at home taking care of him and my little girl. Motherhood is a thing of joy, I must say.

Just after Devotion

On Thursday morning, after devotion and bathing the children, I decided to weed the front of my compound. You may ask, "Why do you have to do such strenuous work?" Or "Why didn't you get a labourer?" The truth is that I tried getting a labourer, but I was disappointed. I am about to resume back to business, and my little girl is about to resume school. I didn't want to leave the compound like that, so I decided to do the weeding.

The work was quite tedious. I had to trim off the tips of the coconut branches for the sake of the children in the compound that play around. I also had to rake the debris off the soil. The cleaning up was very essential in order to avoid snakes and other dangerous reptiles creeping into the houses and for the aesthetic view of the compound. This took me about two to three hours.

At about 9 am, I quickly prepared breakfast. I thank my husband for his presence in staying with the children while I carried out my chores. We took pap for breakfast, a light food that we mostly take as breakfast, which is fast and easy to make.

Grabbing an Opportunity

On discovering that my husband postponed a meeting with his client, I used the opportunity to ask for his assistance in cleaning up my shop. He concurred, and we prepared to go to the shop.

Coincidence

Just as we stepped out of my compound, I saw my mentor, @okere-blessing, approaching from the opposite direction as she was coming back from the market. Meeting her on my way out while having the mindset that I would make a diary of this day brought in some butterflies into my stomach. We laughed while we had a little chitchat, took some selfies and parted ways.

We boarded a tricycle to Youth Avenue at Oron Road. The highway was a beautiful view as we saw different vehicles pass by. I was lucky to sit beside a nursing mother like me who was heading to her business. Just within some minutes in the tricycle, we were able to bond and had a little chat.

Attention

Just as we highlighted in our destination, an open tricycle loaded with condemned plastic bottles caught my attention. It was headed towards the roundabout. I drifted with thoughts concerning recycling. The labourers, in their little way, have assisted in saving the earth. Those plastics definitely will be recycled, and this has helped in keeping the status of Akwa Ibom as the neatest state in Nigeria.

The Shop

Yes! Back to our journey to the shop, we boarded another tricycle that stopped us in front of my shop. The shop was dusty and scattered, and I had an issue with the dampness on the walls. I am grateful to my partner for creating time out of his busy schedule to assist me in the cleanup; I wouldn't have been able to accomplish much on my own.

We did our work tirelessly. The inside of my shop is more like a warehouse for my husband. I was so engrossed in the task at hand that I couldn't take photos for the final look after the cleanup on the inside. This took us to the evening. At about 5 pm, we left for home.

Finally Back Home

My darling baby boy was also tired from the stress of the day and needed a bath. Bath time turned to playtime for us.

I quickly bathed him, his sister and myself before preparing dinner. Dinner time was short due to fatigue; we quickly ate and went to bed at about 7:30pm to 8pm.

It was a day filled with stress, laughter and knowledge. I got some important information in Just the little time I sat beside the nursing mother in the tricycle. Although we didn't totally finish arranging the shop, we achieved a lot that day, hoping to continue the next day.

I cordially invite @bossj25, @mercybliss, @ninapenda and @alexanderpeace to share how their day went.