Tag: Parenting

  • Dad Diaries: No Worries

    It’s been 8 and a half years since I first became a dad and almost 3 years since the last dad diary update. Is it finally getting easier? It’ll get easier they said, give it a couple more years, I waited and waited. Nothing. 3 years ago, I’ll admit I was in a dark place,…

    Dad Diaries: No Worries
  • Maintaining Relationships While Touring

    Every successful musician knows that touring is a part of life. While it can feel exciting at first, it isn’t always as glamorous as people make it out to be.  There are long hours on the road, driving through the night, eating fast food all of the time, and finding places to stay wherever you…

    Maintaining Relationships While Touring
  • Dad Diaries : Down, but not Out.

    I knew it would come to this. The tipping point of having neither the energy nor the resources to get through. Newsflash! Children are hard work. REALLY hard work. I’d heard it, I’d read it, but now it was all too real, and to be honest with myself, I was losing the battle. How did…

    Dad Diaries : Down, but not Out.
  • Dad Diaries : The Perfect Storm. Part 2

    Solicitors My next battleground. On top of a broken roof, it appeared that we had a leak in the bathroom seeping down through the lounge ceiling.  By this point, I’d had enough of problems and worry, so I drew up a list of our ‘red-lines’ for the solicitors, an ultimatum. Sure they were positive. Of…

    Dad Diaries : The Perfect Storm. Part 2
  • Dad Diaries : The Perfect Storm. Part 1

    We always knew 2017 was going to be tough. Even before the turn of the year the flat was literally falling apart, as I almost put my foot through a squidgy, smelly, damp-rot infested section of our bathroom flooring just before Christmas. I hesitantly assessed the damage, a gaping foot wide hole at the end…

    Dad Diaries : The Perfect Storm. Part 1
  • Dad Diaries : All good plans…

    Sometimes, despite your best intentions and plans,  you’ve just got to roll with it. I was nearing the end of a 15-week ‘fit-club’ , my attempt at shedding 3-stone to give me a fighting chance for the challenges to come… moving house, the regular family events, and finishing off with the daddy of them all…

    Dad Diaries : All good plans…
  • Dad Diaries : What it means to be a Dad

    My personal take on what it means to be a Dad. I’m never having children! That’s what I used to say, among all the other things. I’ll never getting married, I’ll never drive I’ll never get a mobile phone. Even, I’ll never cut my hair! Before I had children, I felt sorry for parents. The…

    Dad Diaries : What it means to be a Dad
  • Dad Diaries : Father’s Day?

    Father’s Day! I’d been given the all clear, this was to be MY weekend.  I could do whatever I liked!   The plan was kept deliberately simple, go to South Shields on the Ferry. Go for an ice-cream.  What could go wrong? Luke of course needed a full rundown of the transportation itinerary before we…

    Dad Diaries : Father’s Day?
  • Dad Diaries : The daily struggle

    Welcome to my brand new series: Dad Diaries! Humorous anecdotes of everyday life with my three beautiful children; my rowdy three year old son and his two sisters, identical twins of nine months. It’s been a roller-coaster. But I’ve finally had time to breathe and to reflect. Over the coming months I’ll be using this…

    Dad Diaries : The daily struggle