As it’s the time of year for all things school photography and the like I thought I’d put one up of our little nursery class. From left to right the little ones in the front row are: John – Always first to try something and best friends with Jolla, Steven – The tinker of the class, always wanting hugs from Teacher iBear, Jolla – Seems to receive the most praise and has recently won his 4th consecutive star of the…
iBear hasn’t ever really had a cuddly toy that she’s been inseparable from until recently when she’s developed an attachment to a little monkey I received as part of a deal on two new car tyres. After finishing at the Garage and before heading off to work I left it on the kitchen table while she was out with her Mam. A couple of hours later I received a picture message with her gripping the toy tight and the caption “Is…
We’re never truly happy as parents are we? Each stage of our child’s development is met with joy but also trepidation and worry. I’m always saying in equal measure how “this age is my favourite age” but also “when will she eat/do/stop doing/try that”. Oh and “when will she listen” which is a personal favourite…..We can’t help but focus on the negative things can we? Sure, there’s been loads of instances where we’ve been bursting with pride but all too often…
This is a photo of my 10 month old daughter with her 90 year old great Granddad on her Mother’s side, Harry, playing together at Christmas time a couple of years ago. I struggle not to get emotional every time I look at it. Harry died in the May of the following year and I still miss him terribly as I had an amazing relationship with him despite only knowing him for the ten or so years after my wife and I…
There’s big changes happening in our family life with iBear starting school next week and I want to be a part of them. As regular readers will know, I’m a full time working, full time hands on Dad. This presents all manner of problems almost entirely related to time. There’s quite simply not enough of it. Whether it be a quick play in the couple of hours between getting home and her bedtime or trying to juggle weekends of housework,…
iBear is a fussy eater. I was a notoriously fussy eater. Mammy was a bit of a fussy eater. We didn’t really stand a chance did we? It’s probably one of the most testing times as a parent, trying to introduce new foods to a child. It’s also one of many times it’s made me think about my life as a child and what I put my parents through. Oh the pain and humility of realisation – I was a certifiable nightmare looking…
There have been two things remaining from iBears routine since she was a tiny toddler – her dummy at bedtimes and the stair gate across her bedroom door. One of these ended a few weeks ago, somewhat unexpectedly, and the other happened last night. Gate no more We have used the stair gate on iBears room ever since she’s had a “normal” bed. The main reason was not necessarily to keep her in her room, but to avoid any sleepy walks in…
A quick transcript of a conversation between iBear and I this morning: Daddy: I’m going to love you forever and ever, iBear: yeah…. until you die, Daddy: (without thinking and a little bit stunned) no, even after that., iBear: yeah and then when I die we’ll see each other and be together again! The term can of worms is probably the most suitable here. When do you start talking to your four year old about this most taboo of subjects,…
A Graduation ceremony? At her Nursery? Give over! This was my response just over a year ago when friends of ours who had their child in the same nursery as us told us about what they were up to this week. However, after seeing their photos I was instantly a convert to the celebration and today it was our turn. iBear has been ridiculously excited for today for the best part of a week. She’s been telling us that they’ve…
Every parent is allowed to have at least one ultimate dream that they hope for their child, right? If you ignore the standard, obvious stuff like being happy, having kids of their own, being in a settled stable relationship, good job etc etc and shoot for the moon what would you choose? Me? I’d love it if iBear became a gold medal winning Olympian! I don’t necessarily have a preference on which sport *coughs* athletics *coughs* I just know that…