I can’t believe we’ve arrived at the October half term holiday. Where has that time gone?! Just seven weeks ago my wife and I were gibbering nervous wrecks wondering how on earth our little girl would cope going from two days of nursery to full time education. There was also concern over how we would manage with a huge change of routine. We’ve been so comfortable in the last couple of years and all that was going to change. Panic!…
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…
My lifestyle and general attitude to all things fit and healthy has changed dramatically over the last few years. One of the major factors in this has been becoming a Dad at the relatively old age of 37. This made me take a long hard look at myself and how I lived my life. All of sudden the realisation came that I wanted to be a part of my Daughters life for as long as possible and in order to do that…
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…
Take two four years olds and three adults and put them in static caravan for the weekend and what do you get? A brilliant experience, that’s what! A few weeks ago we took iBear on a mini caravan trip together with her friend C who is two weeks her senior. Both children attend nursery regularly (different ones) and both have had no experience of living with a similar aged human for more than a few hours. We stayed at Cresswell…