Yes, yes I can.
Oh, you actually want me to, right? OK then: calm, positive, and lackadaisical.
I am a freelance writer, and up until recently pitched a lot for journalistic type work. Features, articles, reviews etc. Now I am concentrating on copywriting and professional writing opportunities.
I also do some child mentoring, and will look at other things once my son goes to school in September.
I got into blogging as a means of documenting my own self build project. (selfbilge.wordpress.com) And then created SingleParentDad to write about my exploits as a, errm, single parent dad. The purpose was to have somewhere I could write, but I was under no pressure or deadline, and there would always be plenty of material for content. It has become more of a community thing over time, and I get a lot out of people commenting on my blog, as I do commenting on theirs.
I have had too many to mention, I can’t single one out as a stand out comment.
I have a lot of blogs in my reader, but a few that I would read first. allthatcomeswithit.com is one of these. Because the guy who writes it, Dan, opened my eyes to the bigger world of blogging. His blog is a great read, always entertaining. He is striving to emulate Peppa Pig’s dad, and I think that is brilliant, and it is a mantra that more dads should follow.
Oh, again, another difficult question. I am proud of my son every day, being his dad is the most rewarding honour that could be bestowed on me. I don’t like to take credit for his positives, just like to think I provide him a sound, consistent and loving environment to live in. Gaining the respect of other parents is important to me, particularly mums I respect back. Being trusted with other people’s children has special meaning for me.
I am going to sound like a life coach here, with an ideology, but I don’t believe I am that person. FOCUS-ON-THE-POSITIVE is something I find myself saying a lot. When I get a complaint, especially the ridiculous, like; “I don’t like this ice cream” or “I don’t want to go to bed”, I often counter with “At least you have ice cream” and “But think of all that energy you’ll have to enjoy tomorrow.”
It is a general approach that has been great for my soul.
Yes, but it shouldn’t have. We were at a family barbecue, my wife’s family I should add. One of their family friends was born with only one complete arm, and as such my boy became very interested in him. But instead of asking me, or asking this person in particular, about it, he decided to make his observations, to his nan – at the top of his voice – “See that man over there? He only has one arm.” The guy handled it brilliantly actually. Eventually giving up on his factual explanation, to just warn my son to stay away from crocodiles, as the same could happen to him.
My son’s grieving process is really reaching a new level at the moment, as he understands more, and as he starts to notice our situation is different to that of a lot of his friends. My concern is managing that process for him. Handling it in such a way that he is comfortable talking about it, even if it upsets him. I desperately want to know how he feels, and is feeling, about his mother dying, but at the same time I am mindful of adding any pressure to that process. I don’t want him to worry about my feelings either, as they are really not his concern, not when it comes to this issue.
Probably Prince William, as he is the most likely heir to the throne, and he has also lived a lot of his life without a mother. I would like to ask to what helped, and what hindered him, in his grieving process, as well, of course, of his plans as our future monarch. But as we would only have five minutes, I might just settle for a signed photo of Kate Middleton.
