The day after The Dump, I put on my sneakers and went for a walk. 8 miles later, I came home. I did that every day- walking up to 10 miles. It was as if the chains of motherhood were gone. The weights of my children were lifted. I would hit more than 20,000 steps on average and it was what freedom felt like.

The day they came home… and hence forth, the only place I walk is to my kitchen and back. That’s not exactly true…. I walk to my kitchen but then I’m stuck by the stove cooking through meal-meal and snack-snack. And then I go back upstairs.