Tag Archives: Parenting

The Olden Days

I’ve started to sound like my dad, I even cough like him. Some say you spend the first decades of your life worrying you’ll turn into you father, and the the next decades worrying you won’t…

Specs, Hugs And Bacon Rolls: The Anatomy Of A Dad’s Birthday

Suddenly the lights go out, causing a frisson of excitement to run through the air and down your spine. Next, by pure magic, a flame flickers into existence. This spark warmly illuminates the faces of a gaggle of friends and family, whose grins are only bettered by your own. Then, just as suddenly, the drone of ’Happy Birthday to you…” begins, but nobody cares about the singing. Why? Because we’re all imagining how good the cake will taste.

How come fashionable parents look so cool?

Here’s a piece I wrote for Eastern Daily Press about my frustration with ‘Fashionable’ parents… How on earth do Fashionable Parents look so ‘together’? It really isn’t fair, especially when the rest of us look like we got dressed blindfolded… in a jumble sale. For a bet… Let me explain. These days I’m a Stumbler.Continue reading “How come fashionable parents look so cool?”

Why I’ve written to Santa for a Spider-Man costume…

My son’s superhero of choice is Spider-Man. I’d like to say that the obsession with blue and red spandex-clad fella is driving me up the wall, but it’s my son who’s doing the climbing in our house.

Bored Games – Country Child Magazine

For hour after hour, I’d play on ‘The Triangles’, where tufts of grass became forests in which The A-Team could take cover and broken kerb stones transformed into a ramps that allowed my Knight Rider car to heroically leap any number of death-defying obstacles. I lost teeth, scuffed knees, argued, won (and lost) friends, not to mention Panini trading cards, on ‘The Triangles’ – all (crucially) without the direct supervision of my parents…