My mum always loved this time of year. Because she did, so do I. I have these memories of misty woodland walks through drifts of ruby and amber leaves, jumping into piles of them, kicking them up as if back to their branches, and picnics eaten ravenously in […]
Being a parent is a learning curve, a slow study in how to look after a vulnerable little person. As they begin to crawl, climb and stand, the home becomes its own obstacle course with accidents lurking at every turn. It’s like living in a trash compactor with […]
When Elisabeth and I discovered we were having a baby, one thing became quickly apparent. The baby, be they girl, boy or intersex, was going to be raised a Star Wars fan. Towards the end of the pregnancy, the idea of starting ‘Raising a Rebel’ came to fruition […]
Part of being parent is learning to be patient. For me it’s been a slow study, given I’ve all the patience of Anakin when trying to get onto the Jedi Council. There’s an expectation, too, that childhood developments will arrive one at a time – the first tooth; […]
I’m in the middle of a very normal, adult phone conversation with Dominic, the kind that usually involves trying to scrounge up a plan for dinner, when I gasp. Lorelei is busily munching and slathering on my fingers (again, the usual), but something is unmistakably different. I can […]
Lorelei is currently in the throes of a learning spurt, taking on new skills faster than we can keep up with. In one weekend alone, she cracked rolling over, sticking her tongue out and gave us her first proper giggles. All in two days! Unfortunately, along […]
Lately I’ve been thinking not only about the consequences that my current actions will have on my daughter, but also my past behaviours. For want of an all-encompassing term, I’ll use ‘retrograde responsibility’ which I’ll define as feelings of guilt over things years past. Specifically, actions which may […]
For the last few Father’s Day, I’ve gotten my dad a Star Wars card along with his present. It’s become a tradition, and will no doubt continue in the years to come. But this Father’s Day was different, so as well as getting the requisite Star Wars card […]
There’s an oddness to the passing of time as a new parent. While the hours swell and contract much as they had done before I called myself a father, the weeks and months themselves seem somehow both quick and slow. It might just be that today my little […]
The only true means of uncovering a definitive answer to the age-old ‘nature versus nurture’ argument is through the use of human cloning. Setting aside the ethical dilemma for a moment, using clones would enable genetic copies of the same child to be raised in a variety of […]
