What advice should you have listened to?

Posted by Paul on January 10, 2010

I was surprised, though I shouldn’t have been really, at the amount of advice that people were willing to give to us as new parents. We didn’t even have to ask – the advice was flung at us from left, right and centre. Sometimes the advice would be given to us more than once if we foolishly failed to follow it the first time.

I’ve never been good at receiving advice, especially when it has a chance of touching any part of my ego – in this case my parental skills, which I am only just developing of course. So nearly all of the advice went into the garbage can in my mind. Which is a pity because 6 months down the line we see that we should have followed some of the advice.

What advice should you have listened to?

This Time Next Year

Posted by Paul on December 17, 2009

One of the so-called benefits of BT Vision is that you can get a load of TV shows on demand. And of course in the run-up to Christmas they have lined up a load of Christmas specials from over the years. The first bundle is 17 episodes of Only Fools and Horses.

Now I am a sucker for comedy, and this is a chance to re-evaluate the series that was such a huge hit but ended with a few dodgy episodes that have soured most peoples memories.

As they play in the background they evoke memories of childhood when the show and its specials were a thing to be anticipated and cherished. I distinctly remember watching the two part 1991 special when the family went to Miami at a schoolfriends house, there must have been a big video scheduling issue at our house, with two older brothers there was always a fight over something!

Of course the great beauty of John Sullivan’s sitcom, and the secret of most great British sitcoms, is the bringing to life of the dreamer who never succeeds but always keeps on trying. Del-boy’s “this time next year, we’ll be millionaires” was the basis of his dreams, when he succeeded the story should have ended.

As my son has just dribbled and wiggled past his first 5 months, this old sit-com has gotten me thinking. Now I have so much more responsibility, and so many more dreams, what do I want to be “this time next year”. Maybe it’s time for the sitcom to come to an end.

Luvvly Jubbly.

Work from Home issues

Posted by Paul on November 9, 2009

One of the reasons that I haven’t written much on this blog is because I always planned to have a Welcome video, where I introduce myself and tell my story.

But I have yet to get around to it. Admittedly I did decide not to on a number of occasions because I looked awful, staggeringly unshaven and tired that nobody should be subjected to seeing such a thing on the internet.

However the main reason that I haven’t done it so far is the lack of time and privacy that I need to actually do it. And this is the same for so many other parts of my work. Read the rest of this entry »

An Important Lesson Learnt

Posted by Paul on October 12, 2009

It’s a new thing for me, a new thing for both of us and I’ve realised that I’ve been messing things up.

Trying to work from home is proving difficult enough as it is, what with those tiny little demands or desires to help out with the baby, or around the house. They are so many little cuts to the work of the self-employed man.

And I get frustrated. I need sustained time to get things done, to focus on the more complex, otherwise all that gets done are the small tasks, the easiest, least complicated. So my work suffers.

And the frustration seeps into the rest of life – so many times I get to the end of the day and feel I have done so very little. And I ponder staying up all night to do things, but know that if I do then the important family life will suffer as they get a tired, grumpy, anxious daddy.

And so when there are chances for us all to go out as a family to do things, meet friends, etc. I see only the opportunity to stay at home and do the things that I have not been able to do at other times.

Then a fortnight ago I realised what I was missing. This time when we are all at home is going to go by so fast, and is so precious, that it’s criminal for me to just chuck it all away.

So for the last two weeks we have chosen a day each week to get out and go places, just the three of us. We’ve managed to choose lovely sunny days, probably the last before Autumn properly sets in, and been out to parks and National Trust houses.

They’ve been beautiful, fun, precious times – I kick myself for not realising earlier that my focus was off – and we’ll continue to do them for as long as we can. Rain or shine.