Summer Holidays

Mark Parenting, Uncategorised 3 Comments

time you enjoy wasting isnt wasted timeThe impending summer holidays mark the end of what may have been the longest and most protracted gardening leave on record.

Who knew being a full-time stay-at-home dad came with a twelve month notice period? Not Janet, that’s for sure.

That’s not to say the last twelve months have been wasted. Within the window of school runs I’ve managed to finish the first year of my degree, helped out at the boys’ school one day a week, honed my house-husbandry skills to a (relatively) acceptable level and only occasionally taken an afternoon nap.… read the full post.

The Circle of Life

Mark Parenting, Popular 7 Comments

The boys have reached the age where they’re learning about the circle of life.

It’s a wonderful period of discovery. At school they have a mini-beast hotel and a butterfly garden. An allotment and a pond. They’ve witnessed tadpoles become frogs, and fed lambs on a farm.

But it’s not so much a circle as an arc. A joyous and magical arc, but it still needs to complete its circumference, and for reasons of my own doing, that part has inadvertently fallen on me.… read the full post.

The Look

HBReturnity74 Parenting, Popular 6 Comments

It’s been five years in the making but I’ve nailed it. The holy grail of parenting. Finally, I’ve mastered ‘the look’.

I’ve been close for a while. As a grumpy, middle-aged cynic I’ve had the raised brow of indignation for longer than I can remember; that wind changed a long time ago.

For years, my world-weary posture has meant peering over the top of my glasses was never a problem either, I just needed to drop my chin by an inch.… read the full post.

What Price an Apology?

Mark Parenting 1 Comment

What price an apology? That’s not a rhetorical question, they’re currently trading at 10p.

You see, I’ve introduced the boys to pocket-money. In part to teach them the value of money, but mostly because I’m a fool.

It all began in Sainsbury’s. Tired and distracted, I took a wrong turn and found myself in a cul-de-sac of toys, my escape blocked by a double-buggy.… read the full post.

Don’t Judge a Kid by their Costume

Mark Parenting, Popular 27 Comments

A lot has been written about World Book Day, and rightly so.

A celebration of authors, illustrators, books and reading. Shared in over one hundred countries. A beautifully uncomplicated premise in an otherwise complicated world.

And yet, like any parade, some people can’t wait to piss on it. The main target of their ire? Dressing up.

Across social media they bemoaned the influence of Disney, bewailed the rise of the Superhero and mourned the death of their own literary heroes.… read the full post.