The Weekend
This weekend has been a full weekend.
I have learnt many things, some funny, some practical and some that that were staring me in the face.
The funny ones are range from wandering around dressed up like Dracula doing the Trick or Treat thing to finding out about a certain scale that was dreamt up in Bristol, I'll not give the full details here but will on request.
One of the many practical lessons learnt was that dealing with children, I have observed a Mum at close quarters and marvelled. Things like not actually mentioning the museum that you are actually going to is not the Science Museum but something else.
However I think the most practical lesson with respect to being either a Mother or a Father is that there are no guidelines, there are no practical manuals. It is ENTIRELY on a wing and a prayer. You are are making it up as you go along.
There is a confusion that arrives when a bloke, especially an engineer is presented with a child. You cannot apply what would be deemed a 'rational' logical approach to dealing with a child. This doesn't mean that they are are being a pain in the arse deliberately or actually 'being' a pain in the arse. It's like trying to apply normal Euclidean Geometry to a curved surface, there can be more than 180 deg in a triangle and it will just cause you frustration trying to stick to a flat world theory.
It's been interesting, in a good way, learning about this.
It's also been amazing watching a Mum just switch naturally through all the possible phases from being a lover, partner, confidant and then a Mother.
It has to be said that Stephanie has a few years ahead of me when it comes this and hopefully I will be able to catch up and have that innate flexibility and fleetness of foot /mind for when it I need it to deal with a small person.
I think I might be a good sign that I was able to do the following.
K says she might one day swallow the straw she is using to drink her milk.
I say 'Noooo you would have to go to where mummy works and see a doctor and then you would have to open your mouth wide so the doctor put's his hand into your mouth and into tummy and pull it out'.
Insert appropriate wibbly noises as I pretend to put my hand down her throat to pluck the offending straw out.
It made her smile and the chap we were sharing the table apparently found it hard to keep back the laughter.
So this is how I am trying to work it out, a healthy dose of sillyness and imagination.
I am not trying to replace K's father, that would be wrong but trying to find a role which she is comfortable with and that I can have a positive effect.
Ok the thing that has been staring at me in the face is something I've known for a while but each time I encounter it it still amazes me. Stephanie has been in an ICU, AnE Nurse, has battlefield Nursing capability, has done various other entertaining things and brought up a child through some very difficult circumstances. She switches through all of these roles and still some how has some clock cycles left over for me. Just how the hell does she do it ? It still amazes me.
I have learnt many things, some funny, some practical and some that that were staring me in the face.
The funny ones are range from wandering around dressed up like Dracula doing the Trick or Treat thing to finding out about a certain scale that was dreamt up in Bristol, I'll not give the full details here but will on request.
One of the many practical lessons learnt was that dealing with children, I have observed a Mum at close quarters and marvelled. Things like not actually mentioning the museum that you are actually going to is not the Science Museum but something else.
However I think the most practical lesson with respect to being either a Mother or a Father is that there are no guidelines, there are no practical manuals. It is ENTIRELY on a wing and a prayer. You are are making it up as you go along.
There is a confusion that arrives when a bloke, especially an engineer is presented with a child. You cannot apply what would be deemed a 'rational' logical approach to dealing with a child. This doesn't mean that they are are being a pain in the arse deliberately or actually 'being' a pain in the arse. It's like trying to apply normal Euclidean Geometry to a curved surface, there can be more than 180 deg in a triangle and it will just cause you frustration trying to stick to a flat world theory.
It's been interesting, in a good way, learning about this.
It's also been amazing watching a Mum just switch naturally through all the possible phases from being a lover, partner, confidant and then a Mother.
It has to be said that Stephanie has a few years ahead of me when it comes this and hopefully I will be able to catch up and have that innate flexibility and fleetness of foot /mind for when it I need it to deal with a small person.
I think I might be a good sign that I was able to do the following.
K says she might one day swallow the straw she is using to drink her milk.
I say 'Noooo you would have to go to where mummy works and see a doctor and then you would have to open your mouth wide so the doctor put's his hand into your mouth and into tummy and pull it out'.
Insert appropriate wibbly noises as I pretend to put my hand down her throat to pluck the offending straw out.
It made her smile and the chap we were sharing the table apparently found it hard to keep back the laughter.
So this is how I am trying to work it out, a healthy dose of sillyness and imagination.
I am not trying to replace K's father, that would be wrong but trying to find a role which she is comfortable with and that I can have a positive effect.
Ok the thing that has been staring at me in the face is something I've known for a while but each time I encounter it it still amazes me. Stephanie has been in an ICU, AnE Nurse, has battlefield Nursing capability, has done various other entertaining things and brought up a child through some very difficult circumstances. She switches through all of these roles and still some how has some clock cycles left over for me. Just how the hell does she do it ? It still amazes me.