One photo at a time...

As a keen photographer as well as a father this video got me.

Life is good...

Lulu considers what her hair might look like one day...

I haven't posted here for a while. I've been incredibly busy with all things family related. Add into that the management of two small but ever-growing garden businesses and you can see how I might find it difficult to keep a blog up-to-date and regular.


Anyway, I find myself with a rare few moments to myself just now. I have a bolognese slowly simmering on the stove and my better half is giving Lulu her pre-sleep feed so I wanted to take the opportunity to write a quick note.


Life as a father is wonderful. 


I kinda figured I was going to enjoy it and I was really looking forward to becoming a dad but I never in my wildest dreams imagined that it would give such unfettered joy and whole-world contentedness but it has. I can't quite remember ever feeling quite so composed and relaxed about things. 


Don't misunderstand me though, my life is busy. I mean REALLY busy. Busy in a good way though. My priorities have re-balanced themselves due to the arrival of our daughter. I now try to keep evenings and weekends completely clear in order to do family stuff. Previously whole weekends could have elapsed with me catching up on a backlog of garden designs or quotations or even just billing. 


Not anymore. I endeavour to be much more clever with my time in order to deal with the tasks at hand. I now get up earlier in the mornings to catch up on emails and quotes. I utilise the technology at hand to carry out tasks when I'm out and about. Never underestimate the usefulness of a good smartphone when running a business. As I also build the gardens we design I am out working on site a lot of the time and the ability to be able to send and receive emails, draft letters and reports, access spreadsheets and drawings etc using just a handset is, quite frankly, essential.


The beauty of all this is it frees up more quality time to spend with the ones I love most in the world. So there, life is good....


Michael

Fuel their imagination... (or not)

I was always a firm believer in encouraging and fuelling a kids imagination. I'm beginning to question this belief. Since becoming a dad my own imagination is running amok. When considering things to do with my baby girl I suddenly turn into the screenwriter of Final Destination with even the most mundane and trivial of activities being transformed into the most elaborate, convoluted and spectacular demise of my nearest an dearest.
So, do I want to fuel her imagination? Not if it ends up like mine...
Anyways, speak soon
Michael

When I dress our child...

I can guarantee one thing. You and your child's mum will disagree on what looks good on your kid.
To save you some time and disappointment I would recommend that you don't fight your corner to vehemently. As much as you think you have put together the greatest of ensembles it will eventually dawn on you that you haven't. Bow to mum's superior knowledge and taste. She does know best...
The pic below was my choice of headwear for this afternoon's outing but mother disagreed. The only saving grace is that I can still emblazon the web with my choices thanks to a camera phone, a blog and social networks.
Speak soon
Michael

The family unit...

So as not to give you the impression that I was doing this whole parenting all by myself I though I'd include a wee photo of the whole family (two cats excepted). I'm the handsome male-looking one on the left with the other two beauties, my wife Jill and my ickle daughter Lulu doing a fairly good impression of the hungry caterpillar...
Speak soon.
Michael

Welcome to Daddy Snash

The inaugural post for my new blog probably won't make the most interesting of reads but I'm going to run with it for now and see how it goes.
My thinking behind starting this blog is two-fold; firstly I'm keen on documenting my experiences of fatherhood if only for my own future reference. If, however, the blog strikes a chord with folks out there then that would be a happy bonus.
The second reason for the blog is a bit of a tech experiment as I'm going to try and keep this blog going using primarily my new HTC Sensation handset. I'm not necessarily going to stick to this plan but for now it's quite convenient.
Anyways, I'll leave you now with a photo of me with my biggest achievement, my daughter Lulu.
Speak soon,
Michael