“Life Is Hard Sometimes, Isn’t It Dad?”

They say nothing is more stressful than moving house. From the outset you’re worried whether house offers will be accepted, that buyer’s of your own house won’t pull out, that surveys come back with no nasty surprises and that solicitors do their jobs properly. My fiancée and I managed to overcome these hurdles with relative ease, finally finding out that we had exchanged contracts waiting for our suitcases to arrive in the luggage lounge of Zakynthos airport earlier this summer. Although I would have preferred not to have been calling around removal companies during my blended family holiday, the knowledge of moving house nevertheless stopped the holiday blues kicking in on our return to the UK, knowing we had only days to get packed and moved.

Healing A Broken Boy

Underneath the window on a hot July day sat my son. His mother had just beckoned him into the front room, taking him away from his toy cars. Sunlight poured into the room from outside, with dust dancing in its rays, putting my son underneath a spotlight. The scene was set. And then she told him.

An Open Letter To My Children

Dear Kids,

Well, what a 2018 it’s been eh?! I can honestly say that it’s been one of the most interesting years of my entire life and sharing it with you two makes it perfect.

In fact, sharing any year with you guys is perfect.

I won’t lie, 2017 was pretty awful. Learning about your Mum’s affair, her leaving in the middle of the night out of the blue and Grandad’s battle with cancer, did leave me slightly battered at times, but with you two in my life those testing times were overcome with relative ease. When on the brink, nothing brings you back to earth like your son announcing he’s blocked the toilet or your daughter demanding I dance with her in the kitchen, before sulking when I don’t complete the splits.

Do Not Fear When Love Actually Is Not All Around

It isn’t the festive season without watching at least one Christmas film. Last weekend I went up to Edinburgh to watch a favourite of mine and Soon-To-Be’s: Love Actually, accompanied with a live orchestra.

For those who haven’t seen it, Love Actually is a soppy, English classic, which follows the trials and tribulations of characters in love, or seeking love at Christmas time. It is a typical “chick-flick” but I unashamedly love it.

However, a certain storyline struck me this year. It is one that I have never paid much attention to before but suddenly, when viewing this modern classic for the hundredth time, I was hooked as I began to draw parallels with my own life.

Practising new steps with the Ex-in-Laws

This afternoon I dropped my little girl into town to meet my ex-mother-in-law. Her hair beautifully styled by Soon-To-Be and dressed in a stunning sparkly red dress, my daughter clearly looked the classiest of all the children about to watch the ballet. She grabbed her Grandma’s hand and swiftly shot off into the theatre, giving me a high five before the ex-mother-in-law confirmed what time she hoped to drop her back at my house.

“Dad, will Mum ever tell me why she left?”

In what was a tough week at work I awoke with what can only be described as a spring in my step. Yes, it was a Friday but this wasn’t an ordinary end-of-the-week day. This was the day I’d see my children again, having not spoken to them for four whole nights!

Having been on half term, their mum decided to take both camping. Camping, I’ll be frank, has never appealed to me, so it is good that both of my two are given the chance to experience the great outdoors. The downside of course, was that I was unable to contact them as they went to an area with zero phone signal. By the time Friday came I was bursting to see them.