Being an expectant father, this close to the big "push" is hard work. Each time my wife makes any kind of huff or a puff (which is very often if you carry round a baby in your stomach) I am jumping around in my mind as I suspect it is hot towel time. As I write this, I am 12 approximate days away from becoming a fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL father, and I just want to get it over with.
All the members of our antenatal class have now (apart from us and another couple) all delivered their bundles and are all looking suitably exhausted and ecstatic. We went to see one of the happy couples and their baby. It was fascinating to see how quickly they had learnt and adapted to be super parents. They assured me it was all trial and error, but I think it was still very impressive.
Seeing their baby triggered the thought it my head that we will have our own one very soon. Up until that point it was a mild concept of a far off event, like thinking about what you want for Christmas in January, but seeing a real live baby in action was quite sobering and also highly exciting. I can't wait to get going.
Our living room is currently living in the shadow of a birthing pool. We inflated it recently and decided that we may as well leave it up - you never know when we might need it. I had a little sit in it and I can confirm it is very comfortable and pleasant. I am sure that this childbirth lark will be plain sailing. Almost as much as I am sure that bricks make great flotation devices.
The other night I had a dream, which apparently is very common amongst parents to be. My dream was that my baby had arrived and was about the size of an action figure. It was very cute and looked like a tiny version of my wife. Suddenly, in the dream, a friend of mine called my phone and I left the room to take the call (for some bizarre reason). My friend on the phone was being highly vague and couldn't remember why he had called and eventually said he would call back. When I went back into the room with the baby, I couldn't find it anywhere. When I woke up I was terrified. I know of at least two other people who have had a dream along those lines, a tiny baby that goes missing. Still, I suppose in terms of dream psychology, it is easier to explain than that dream I had about me being unable to hold and keep up that big pink pole. Now that is a real mystery.
ITV3 has outdone itself once again. Fresh from the scheduling success of showing the On The Buses trilogy on Christmas Day, they recently showed all of the Pierce Brosnan Bond films. Watching them again in order, is a really interesting study of a steep and rapid decline. As Bond films go, Goldeneye is sheer perfection. Brosnan looks good, Sean Bean is on top form and the plot sort of hangs together. Tomorrow Never Dies represents the start of things going rotten with Bond. The plot is absolutely nonsensical and the villain is appalling. In case you are unaware, the villain of the piece is Elliot Carver (Jonathan Pryce) who is a poor man's Rupert Murdoch. Carver decides to instigate a war between China and Britain using a Stealth Boat and his newspaper. Carver intends to launch a missile on China and frame Britain. When the plan goes wrong and Carver finds out that both Britain and China know it is him behind it all, he decides to launch the missile anyway. Never mind that this doesn't make any sense and would defy the purpose of having a Stealth Boat or stirring up things in the media. He may as well have walked into Beijing and been photographed throwing a Union Jack grenade, with his name on it, at a horse.
The tragedy for Brosnan is that he got Bond at the wrong time. Not only were the stories drying up but he was also beginning to lose his good looks. By the time of Die Another Day, he had lost the look of a top spy who could have any woman in the world at any time and found the look of an IT manager from Staines who had got lost in Cuba.
What next for the ITV3 marathon of quality? We wait with bated breath.
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| Comments about This Article |
| Great article! Are you sure you looked everywhere? I bet you didn't check down the back of the sofa, did you?!!!
Comment By: maureen rain, 16 Jan 2011, Rating: 5/5  |
| "that dream I had about me being unable to hold and keep up that big pink pole"
I have a theory or two
Best of luck for when the little feller or little lady appears!
Comment By: Richie, 14 Jan 2011, Rating: 5/5 |
| I remember 2 weeks before my first was due (now 9 years ago) saying to a close friend in a pub how it still felt so far away and so intangible. Baby arrived next day. The learning curve is steep but so fun. I can't wait to see photos of the MasterJohnRain or female equivalent when they arrive. Best of luck to you both. 2011 will be a tremendous year
Comment By: Jam75, 13 Jan 2011, Rating: 5/5 |
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