You need some space, well don’t look to the parenting bays.

People frustrate me and at times, many times, they make me angry. This happens a lot when walking in town when people decide to stop in front of me, not get out of my way forcing me to do the moving all the time or generally people being a waste of their existence. A lot of time it happens when driving, I must admit I do get some serious road rage, but their all morons. My other half and I would always, before having children, see parents who really can’t handle children or shouldn’t have breed, and look to one another and say ‘parenting one o one’ and laugh.

Now we’ve had children and experienced what they gone through, we still stand by our point, those people are idiots and shouldn’t be allowed children. This is only a handful of people, we’ve all met them and most are when out shopping. Which brings me to my main point of this short blog, parenting bays. When out shopping with a little baby, these bays are very handy. They give you space either side of the car so you can get to said baby and release them from their chair of safety. The thing I’ve found with parenting bays is that they are misused. We use a bay because it’s easier to get our baby, who can’t even crawl yet, out of the car without smashing the door into the parked car beside us. So many times I’ve seen parents with children old enough to climb out of the car parked in the bays. This is clearly teaching your child many things including being lazy and not smashing the car door into the parked car next to yours.

Other times we’ve seen parents with children sat in the bay waiting for their other half to go in and collect something. Child has not even left the car. The worst of the worst, one’s with a baby seat or booster seat but no actual child with them. You don’t need the bay you ungrateful waste of space, stop stealing our oxygen and our spaces. I’ve not said anything yet but one of these days I will snap and they won’t like me when I’m angry, I turn blue from shouting so much.

When do you start to feel old?

So when I announced that I was going to be a dad, people came up to me and said that I had to grow up now, which was met by a confused and unimpressed face. Check out my thoughts on this here. I’ve never felt old, i’ve always felt young, especially when around certain friends or colleagues, as they discuss the serious things of their life or their latest conquest at the weekend, and other things that don’t interest me. There’s me in my head thinking about what fun things to do with my other half and now my little one.

I was so excited when I found a soft play centre than allows parents to accompany their child while they are having fun. I look forward to playing with toys, shopping in Toys ‘R’ us and actually buying stuff, having kids parties and going to all these places. I still love playing nerf with my other half, being silly and enjoying our lives.

This isn’t to say people we know are not the same, completely the opposite, that’s why we are friends with them, among other reasons. But my question is ‘when do you start to feel old?’ I have a home, a mortage that sucks the money from me like a vampire at my neck, I have a wife, I am now a married man, a one women bloke, and now I have a child, a beautiful baby girl, but inside I still feel young. At 30 years old, I know I am not that old but still, surely these ‘adult’ aspects of life surely must make you feel old, surely?

Even as I sit with my daughter resting on my knees in front of me, looking cute and sweet, smiling and laughing at everything behind me, I wonder how on earth, I made this (obviously with a lot of help from the other half) but still, this little creature was mine. She was mine and my wife’s responsbility, our pride and joy, we had to take care of her and raise her to be the best superhero in the world, but how can I do that when I still play nerf with my wife?

I’ll tell you how I am going to do this, by being myself. Growing up sucks, we all said we wanted to be older when we were younger but now we are older, it sucks. Bills, responsiblities, mortages, bills, work, shopping and all the rest of the crap that takes up most of our time. Me and the other half will embrace this young feeling for aslong as possible, because even though I am a dad, I still feel like I am ten years old inside, apart from Mon – Fri 9 – 5, when I wear a suit and head to work.

Our first shopping trip – well mine at least

Since we found out we were having a baby and that the other half was pregnant I have been happy, excited, nervous, (add any number of emotions I am sure I have felt them) but one thing I haven’t felt is involved. Now this isn’t to say that the other half doesn’t include me in anything, far from it, we have a relationship where we agree on most things. Our wedding has been very easy going so far ( a few issues with family but that’s to expect with a wedding) and when it came to the baby, most things we agreed on. The color of the nursery, the furniture for the room and even clothes and outfits, we have agreed on all of it.

So when I say I have not felt involved is that the other half has this mini child inside of her, wriggling around (our baby is a wriggler but that’s too be expected considering her parents) and can feel the changes in her body and that of the body inside her (maybe not the actual changes but at least the size and weight etc). Me on the other hand has yet to feel her kick, which I am looking forward to, and doesn’t get to experience what the other half is experiencing even if on occasions she tells me that she wish I could (more in a angry way than a pleasant way).