It can be done

I've just returned from 11 days in South Africa alone, where I was greeted with some scorn and quite a lot of incredulity. So many women asked, "How can you leave your baby in London, and with Keith?", and "How will he cope?". Blokes said to me, "I could never look after our little X. It would be impossible." Uh huh, raaaaiiiitttt.
All I can say is Keith did a great job despite his claims that he'd left a trail of destruction in his wake, and had lost things at every outing, and that the house was a tip. All the major appliances are still here and functioning. Zack is fit and well. I could see the floor in the lounge on my return. There don't appear to be any new stains on the carpet. The bottles, spoons and forks were washed up and there was even a bunch of pretty roses in a vase for the wife. It goes to show, don't it ?
I think it's evidence that I've moved on from the South African psyche: "you're the chick, it's your problem not mine (the kid that is)." And so has Keith. He is a completely able father, who has managed to feed, cloth, transport, love and discipline our son while I've been away. And has also had an immense amount of fun and frustration doing so. These are all good things.
Zack isn't a baby anymore, and is far from helpless. He understands instructions, he can tell when we're proud of him and when we want to play. He also know when he's being naughty and if he's going to get into trouble for what he's doing. I missed him terribly, but I needed to go and attend family celebrations. It all worked out very well.