SINGAPORE: April Leong vividly remembers the day she lashed out at her children when they interrupted her during a company meeting.
The industry manager was working from home during the COVID-19 circuit breaker and was leading the discussion in the meeting that lasted all day.
Her two children, Elsa and Elijah, then aged five and three, came up to her and tried to talk to her while she was speaking.
“I was so angry I shouted at them, grabbed my laptop and walked away,” she recounts. “Then I slammed the door on them.”
She later found out that Elijah had hurt his toe, and he wanted to tell her about it. She apologised to him and couldn’t help bursting into tears herself.
“I felt so terrible after that,” says the 40-year-old. “How important is work that I couldn’t spend one minute listening to them?”
It was a complex mix of emotions: Guilt, hurt and worry that her children would be closer to their helper than her.
She tells her story in the debut episode of the new podcast, Imperfect by CNA Insider. The limited series delves into the questions every parent will face, with heartfelt stories — sometimes funny, sometimes poignant — about dealing with parental dilemmas.