Nothing especially good, or bad, lasts for long

I spent a few hours with my old friend Richard the other weekend, and his partner and little boy. He told me that the only piece of parenting advice he'd been given (by another old friend of mine as it happens) which turned out to be any good, was:

"Nothing especially good, or bad, lasts for long."

Just as it seems things can't go on like they are for much longer (incessant screaming for no apparent reason, for example), things invariably get better.

And the flipside: just when you're feeling smug because something has worked out particularly well (a particularly smooth feeding session, for example) - it'll all come crashing down ;-)

I think I'll engrave this on something prominent...

Learn what you can from others...and then ignore it?

As prospective parents, my wife and I have been on the receiving end of a lot of advice and ideas from all and sundry. It seems that everyone (man or woman) that we've spoken to has their own particular view, that has almost nothing in common with the others.

For example - it's possible that we'll go for a home birth - and it seems that in some people's eyes, that makes us devils-incarnate. The implication (never stated, as that would be un-British) has sometimes quite clearly been that only by taking advantage of every possible medical assistance/intervention, are you doing justice to your unborn.

The truth seems to be (and it's not surprising) that each mother or father's own experience of childbirth shapes their opinion of what is good, and what is bad. The trouble with this is that it's only a small minority that appears to recognise, deep down, that every birth experience is different.

I know this is hardly earth-shattering insight. But for any prospective new Dad out there - my advice: listen to what everyone has to say (and everyone will say something opinionated, even if not asked ;-) and take it in - but when it comes to supporting your partner and thinking about what you both want to do, be prepared to forget what everyone else says and go with your own instincts.

It's not their baby, it's yours.

Hello

Here we go then!

I've blogged for a little while as part of my job, but not "personally" (if you know what I mean).

So - why am I doing this? There are a few reasons (in no particular order):
1. There's a whole heap of things I'm learning at the moment, and I wanted to write them down but I thought this would be more interesting than just writing a normal diary
2. There's a chance that the things I learn or think about might be interesting to someone else in a similar situation - and if another prospective Dad reads something here that they find useful, then that's great
3. I've always wanted to do more writing outside work but don't have the stamina (yet) to write anything complicated like a novel
4. I think that's it...