One Week

I started with 22 weeks of parental leave and now have but 21. A whole week (roughly) has passed and it’s been eventful. In 22 years I’ll be 58 and almost-certainly retired (firmly on the march towards death, if I haven’t headed that way already, which ideally I wouldn’t have). How has the last week gone?

Things that happened

I think I’ve done quite a lot this week. I started the week booking holidays (a night in Edinburgh and some time in Carluke, a week at Centre Parcs, a lads weekend in Chesterfield/Sheffield, a day at Jorvik). I’ve spoken to a few different contractors. I’ve been to the gym twice. I’ve visited a nursery. I’ve thrown away a bunch of old clothes. I’ve enabled my wife to go on two or three social visits.

But life isn’t measured in the amount of stuff you do - it’s only the stuff that matters that matters. So what of that?

Moments of Joy

At one point, I fed my youngest breakfast or lunch while listening to loud rock music and singing along and it felt incredible. He shouted and ate and flailed around wildly and so I did too and it was magic.

I took my four-year-old to a gymnastics free play session and she tried again and again at walking along a balance beam and finally managed it so celebrated with a go on a trampoline.

My six-year-old went to a trading cards club and found it so exciting that it’s all he’s talked about for the last few days - we cycled back from school together and he would not stop wanging on about it.

Dies Horribilis

Today was pretty rough. We’ve run out of oil so don’t have heating or hot water, our cleaner cancelled so we spent the morning frantically tidying for nothing, our baby is sick, our 4-year-old is sick, my nose is bleeding for some unknown reason and there’s more poo flying around than I know what to do with. It hasn’t stopped raining in 4 days, and it feels like our house is on the verge of crumbling.

Overall

Honestly though, reflecting on the week, it’s been a good and a busy one. I’ve continued Claude Coding on my side project (dresscompare.com), I’ve made a bunch of progress on my DPhil, I’ve spent lots of time with the kids, I’ve managed to get to the gym a couple of times, and I’m generally settling in well to parental leave.

I doubt all weeks will be as productive as this, but I know for a fact that next week is going to be very busy and then the week after that is half term so we’re going up to Scotland for a lot of it. Who knows, then? Maybe I’ll spend the next 22 weeks up to my eyeballs in “life” and before I know it I’ll be clocking on again.

Bring on next week, bring on some heating oil and working hot water, bring on new bank accounts and supervisor meetings and school-drop-offs, and hopefully I can capture a few moments of magic that matter along the way too.