The diary of Dad

New year is be a strange time, full of hangovers that last too long and resolutions that fade away too quickly. Luckily for me I have grown up into a smart man and only had to deal with one of those issues this year. I’ve never liked resolutions anyway.

That’s not to say that I’m against a little self improvement or goal setting, it’s just that i often require a little more inspiration than a change in the date to kick my backside into gear. My little muse gave me that inspiration in an unfortunate way this evening.

So here’s the backstory. A couple of weeks ago I introduced Robbie to the joys of gaming. I found a very basic, free game on the Playstation and let him loose with the controller thinking it would be good for his coordination and also calm him down for a small time each day. He is usually a very hyper kid and nothing else has stopped him from running about like a maniac all day.

The plan worked well. He really enjoyed his game so I got him a couple more, as well as his own colourful controller so that we can play games together. He expressed an interest in something and I supported it, that’s great parenting right?

So back to tonight. We took a walk to the shops together to top up on fruit and as always Robbie was allowed to pick up one treat for us to share after his tea. With a little expert guidance from his Father he selected some luxury cookies and we made our way to the checkout. As soon as the cookies were scanned Robbie picked them up and I reminded him they were not to be eaten until after dinner, his response ”I don’t want dinner. I just want to play games and eat cookies.”

What monster have I created? I have seemingly transformed my beautiful three year old bundle of energy into a lazy teenager in just two weeks. Seriously though, it’s the clearest statement yet that we have moved past the ‘terrible twos’ and cruised into the ‘threenager’ stage.

The truth is that changes in Robbie are sudden and often a little unexpected. It seems a bizarre fact that my Son has both only just turned 3 and is also starting school this year. Am i now dealing with a toddler or a child? The playstation obsession seems to confirm the latter.

So without a doubt there will be many new challenges for us to face together this year. Unfortunately potty training is still a bit of a work in progress but aside from that my little baby is almost ready to become a school kid. We are now busy getting the final touches of his pre school learning with numbers and letters and encouraging him to take more control of getting himself dressed and changed. Realistically though, there is nothing that can fully prepare either Robbie or us for the year ahead.

Primary school, or big boy school in Robbie’s world, is a giant leap into the unknown. As a single child who has spent the majority of his life in Covid times I always have a slight concern over his social development. How will he cope being away from us for 5 days a week? Will he get on with the other kids? Can he handle sharing his toys with others…. Well we know he can’t do that.

This year will be a very steep learning curve for Robbie and for me as a Dad but I’m looking forward to facing whatever this year has to throw at us and coming out the other side even better than ever, if I can just get that Playstation control out of his hands first.

Thanks for reading my strange ramblings and a happy new year to you. If you want to read something a little more useful or just have time to kill, check out some of the posts below.