The diary of Dad

Well that’s another week over with and I’m actually pretty glad to see the end of this one. I’m not really that keen on being busy and things have been far too hectic for my liking. From Robbie waking up with a temperature last Sunday things went downhill pretty fast.

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Of course a slight temperature in a toddler would usually have been of very little concern but these days it’s a real game changer. Having notified our work that the little man had was not well, we had no choice but to go and get ourselves tested before we were clear to return. I must admit, the whole booking system was far easier than expected and we were able to get an appointment just a few hours later.

I would love to say that the test itself was just as simple. Before leaving I was given a tricky ultimatum by Sarah, I either had to drive or be the guy in the backseat responsible for attempting to make Robbie co-operate with the test. I made the wrong decision. Driving would have been far simpler.

I was happy to find out that the test was at Colchester football club, a place I’ve not visited for many years and I thought it would be great for Robbie’s first view of a stadium. Sadly the back car park where the tests took place were not really symbolic of any sporting event.

The staff there seemed superb, though the system of having to keep your window shut whilst they tell you directions through their masks could probably do with a tweak. They may aswell have just handed us the tests and walked off from all I could understand but thankfully Sarah seemed to get the gist of it.

We both carried out our tests with relative ease before my time to shine with Robbie. This wasn’t going to be easy. Two swabs were needed, one from the nostrils and one from the tonsils, so I chose to battle the nose first. I’d like to think I managed to keep the swab up there for at least 0.2 seconds before he yanked it out my hands and tried to throw it to the ground… That’ll do for that one then.

Sadly, this was the easy one. As I tried putting the second into his mouth his arms started swinging wildly and he gagged before pulling it out. How has anyone ever taken a ten second swab from a toddler? Sarah had to climb over the seats and restrain him for the next attempt and I managed a little longer before he wrestled the stick from me again. The ordeal was over and I’ll cut to the point and say we all tested negative, with a impressively fast text confirmation sent the following morning.

The next few days were a living hell. Though Covid free, Robbie was not his usual happy self. He also lost any ability to sleep and Sarah and I had to take shifts of staying up with him 24/7. By Wednesday we were exhausted and could not face another night of sleep deprivation so decided it was time to get him to the doctors. After just twelve hours of phone calls back and forth with 111 and our local surgery we were able to get an appointment. If only these surgeries were as efficient as the Covid testing! A few painkillers and a prescription later and Robbbie was on the mend.

One sad casualty of Robbie’s illness was the restaurant table we had booked to celebrate Sarah’s birthday. This was particularly sad given that her husband is appalling at birthdays and as such had not got her a gift or even a card, thinking this meal would be enough. I’m sorry Sarah, I’ll make it up to you next year. (She’s heard that before!)

I suppose I could look at the positives and say that with our anniversary coming up, I have a great opportunity to make it up to her. Unfortunately though, she is likely to read this so you won’t catch me making any promises.

The end of the week has been far kinder to us. Robbie made it back to nursery to spend his last day in the baby room at chestnut grove. Next week he will be moving up with the bigger kids and leaving behind his teacher, Amber, who has been incredible with him since he started there. He’ll miss you Amber!

Amazingly for me, I’ve actually managed to keep my little alcohol detox going throughout all the stress. For those that missed it, I’m attempting to give up alcohol for a while, I’m now eleven days in and almost half way through my goal. It’s been far easier than I expected to be honest but I am really looking forward to sitting down with a beer for the return of football on September 12th.

In the meantime, I may actually find myself winning a few a little more often on racing bros on the PS4 now that I’ll be seeing the screen straight every night!