Another long night of work. Another night of cleaning after people, only to wake up tomorrow and do the same thing for my family.

I get home at one in the morning only to find the world around me asleep. Sometimes I find my children awake, but usually they are busy and do not have time for me. My daughter is only up when she needs to finish her last minute homework. As smart as she is, she is is ten times more lazy. My son is playing video games and screaming into the night, only to fall asleep at 3 in the morning and wake up late for school. When I do find everyone asleep however, I go into the kitchen and find the food that has not been eaten. I eat the soup that I worked hard to make and my children didn’t touch. I make this almost every week and can eat it anytime with some bread and some cheese. My children however get tired of it. They don’t know how much of a comfort food can be. It is great to have something that you didn’t when you were kid. I eat too much and indulge in all that I missed in my childhood. I stay in the silence and darkness of the house, before going into the living room and watching some soap opera that I need to catch up on. I indulge in the things that I am not allowed to do when everyone else is awake. I indulge before it is morning and I have to get up again and wash clothes and cook and clean and finds textbooks and iron clothes and make lunch and of course dinner and head to work and repeat it all over again. This is what it is like. I am a convenience store that is open 24/7, but I’m the only employee here. Sometimes the day changes. Sometimes it is easier and sometimes it is harder. Today my daughter was sick, and I had to care for her and make sure she was alright. I hope she understands how much I love her. I keep telling her she’ll only understand when she becomes a parent. My father had to get a minor surgery and for that I have to go and translate for my parents. Even with these events, it is still the same routine. I sleep in as much as I can before I have to wake up for the day again and then go to work. I recently became very religious a couple of years a ago, so I also try to pray everyday. My religion has made me stronger and a better and happier person. Although, many people were against me wearing the hijab, it made me a happier and it was the choice I made for myself. I love being able to be myself in this country. I love indulging and deciding for myself. My religion has made me a stronger person and I try to share it with my children, even though they don’t care as much as I wish they would. My children support me in everything I do and for that I am grateful, even when I do not have my husband with me, I have at least one of my children behind me supporting me. I wake up early morning to take my youngest daughter to school, even though it is a block away. Then I go back to sleep, usually deciding to sleep in my oldest daughter’s bed. Then I have to wake up to find my son’s missing clothes. Then I go back into my daughter’s bed and try to get some sleep before I have to wake up again. My daughter usually leaves for school around 10 in the morning and lets me sleep in. Around one, I try to wake up and start cooking and cleaning. My mother is here so she helps a lot with the cooking and cleaning and everything. Lastly ,I get dressed for work and meet my friends who also work in the same place. We leave around 3:45 and get to work around five. Throughout, the job I clean the hospital. I am the best cleaner there and many supervisors have told me. I cleaned my whole life, so it is not that hard. Then, I end work at 12:30 and wait for either my husband or my friend’s husbands to pick us up. I enter my house to darkness and silence.

Another long night of work. Another night of cleaning after people, only to wake up tomorrow and do the same thing for my family.

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