A few words from Rob Mansfield

Forget all the frustration and worrying if you’re a good dad, or not. Forget the fact that she always wants to go to Mummy before Daddy.

No matter how little sleep you get, or how clingy your children are when you want to do something that you consider is important, there’s nothing that brings a smile to the face more than a milestone.

Yesterday, even though she didn’t realise she did it, Ava took her first unaided steps! I picker her up to move her from one side of the room to another and put her down on her feet and she casually took 3-4 steps forward without me holding on, before realising that she was going solo. She promptly plopped onto her bum!

She did it again later, but neither Ceri or I think she realised the scale of her achievement, which I guess is quite cool. Even though we were there cheering and clapping!

It reminds me of when I first learned to ride a bike - you’re pedalling away furiously with mum or dad running along next to you, holding onto the bike, or so you think. Then you take a quick peek to the left and realise you’re on your own. There’s that brief feeling of “wow, I’m riding a bike on my own!”, before you career violently off to the right into a neighbour’s privet hedge!

More frustratingly, it then seems to take loads of attempts to do it again, even though you know you can do it. I guess that’s the sort of thing that spurs us on!

Bookmark to:

MY three-year-old stayed the night last night and, although it’s great fun when she spends Saturday night here, it’s never quite the picnic it should be.

She’s very strong-willed, although incredibly loving and caring, but that pair make for a tricky concoction. Amazingly, given that Schmoo didn’t settle till 9pm, 3YO stayed asleep the entire night and didn’s stir. Thank goodness.

3YO didn’t want to go to see Chicken Little (probably a wise move) at Kids Club on Sat, so we spent the day around CP. We checked out the aquarium shop, which has some wicked snakes, lizards and fish for sale. Always interesting for a young one - if only to see different wildlife up close, I think.

I guess, I find the most difficult thing, having almost zero money and being constantly tired, and not mentally alert. For someone who prides themselves on having a quick brain and sharp reflexes, I feel as dull as a 20-year-old razor blade!

Bookmark to:

Sometimes I wonder what I did with my life before I had kids. The weekends always seemed to stretch out like a never-ending chasm, to be filled with drinking wine, cooking lovely food and watching TV or going to the movies.

Now, I occasionally get to cook lovely food, drink wine as long as it’s not too much, or else I’ll have a stinking hangover, never go to the cinema, unless it’s with my three-year-old (The Wild, Flushed Away) and watch any TV I can get to. I watch Match Of The Day on Sunday, if I’m lucky courtesy of Sky+

In fact, I watch most of my favourite TV (actually we do), by virtue of Sky+ - I don’t think I watch anything at the time it’s actually broadcast, apart from the occasional news bulletin. Decidedly odd. What happened to watercooler TV? I think I’ve had about one conversation about last night’s TV in the past 6 months, and that was about, dare I say it, Celeb Big Brother.

It’s not as if we don’t do things with Ava - more that everything has to be structured around her and when she eats. If we go shopping in town, we end up being at Oxford Circus at 12.15, so we can go to Mamas & Papas cafe. Ah, those halcyon days of suddenly grabbing something at 2.30pm and necking a bottle of wine.

If it sounds like I’m moaning, far from it. My children are a delight - I suppose I sometimes marvel at what my life used to be like. Fulfilment is guaranteed now!

Bookmark to: