The woman I thought would be my forever was gone without a word. When I realized she wasn’t coming back, I had no choice but to figure things out on my own. I got a full-time remote IT job so I could stay home with the kids. I worked during their naps, late at night, early mornings, and whenever they were at daycare. Coffee became my lifeline. Some days I felt like a zombie, but I reminded myself the girls came first. It wasn’t easy, but we found our rhythm.
I was overwhelmed. I even thought about tracking down my ex or taking her to court for child support. But I decided not to. Fighting her didn’t seem worth it. With toddlers, laundry is survival—sticky fingers, potty accidents, muddy socks, yogurt spills—it never ends. For two days, I washed everything by hand. My fingers cracked and bled, my back ached, and I still couldn’t keep up. So, I called a repairman. After inspecting the machine, he said it was badly damaged and that fixing it would cost more than buying a secondhand one. He gave me the contact info of someone who’d pay for scrap parts.
On the third day, my hands were bleeding so badly that Bella noticed and Lily got so upset she vomited on her clothes. That was my breaking point. I swallowed my pride, loaded the twins into the car, and went to a local secondhand appliance shop. The place was rough—mismatched fridges outside, a “No refunds!” sign—but the prices were right. As I bent down to check a beat-up Whirlpool washer, an older woman with gray hair in a bun and kind eyes spoke to me.Continue reading…
