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The things I do for love and familyIt's been a busy "any given length of time". When I was younger and was working at Stafford, one of the guys I used to work with regularly once told me, "I'm happy to be busy. There are a lot of people at the moment who are unemployed and I am lucky to have a job. If I'm busy and I work well, it means that I'm safe in my job for now." I don't mind being busy. If I did I could just cut back on some of the stuff I'm doing. And at least I feel like I'm getting somewhere. I've crossed off a number of tasks from the to-do list (and replaced them with "next thing" tasks). Both on the home front and at work. Of course, looming up on the horizon is the big day, when my baby's rent is up and he has to find new accommodation. (It takes so much pressure off, knowing the sex. It means we can now have a lot of fun picking a girl's name. At the moment, I'm using "Gertrude Daisy-Belle", or perhaps "Louise Olivia" for the initials...) I have now read three pregnancy tomes, attended most of the NHS birth classes (two more Monday evenings to go), have the 2nd (and final) NCT child-birth day tomorrow, and generally feel like I have reduced my unpreparedness as much as possible (although we still have to pack a couple of bags, get some stuff, do the bedrooms, panic etc.) I won't pretend that I'm not a little scared and apprehensive. More about the "after" time than the pregnancy. I suppose it is time for me to go from reading pregnancy books to child-raising books (Not like Michael Jackson's "The ins and outs of child rearing"). It's probably also time for me to move from documentaries like "Alien" to documentaries like "Child's Play" I consider myself a loving husband and a family man. I do want to be as involved as I can be. Which means I am going to have to start carrying a mobile phone. I hope Bec appreciates the sacrifice. I'm even going to (virtually) cut out alcohol to ensure I remain fit to drive. I'd even use Google if it would make Bec happy. The things we do. And I plan to be supportive of what Bec wants for the pregnancy, regardless of whether it is a drug-laden vaginal birth, a natural caesarean or whatever. But still, the idea that there will be a tiny, helpless person who will require Bec and me, neither of whom have any baby experience, to feed him, change him and fill out his tax returns for him, is quite scary. But then I think, well, I'm a generally-capable person. Bec is a capable person. Far less capable people than us seem to raise babies until they are old enough to get their first ASBO. On a "gripe-about-BBC" note, there was a nice, balanced, tough-but-fair interview on BBC4's flagship today program with Israel's new ambassador to the UK. There were difficult questions, but he was allowed to answer them fully, with explanations. The questions were sensible, and showed some level of understanding and context. Which meant (sadly unusual for british media) that talk of Israeli military action was accompanied by figures of the number of rockets on Sderot. Of course, it was back to the BBC we all know and, well, know, just a few minutes later. At the next news headlines break, it was reported along the lines of: Ambassador raised the possibility of Israeli military action, coming after Israel has killed 20 Palestinians. They say they are only targetting militants. Firstly, I'd be very surprised if any Israeli official referred to them as militants. Only Hamas and the BBC call them that. Secondly, it really did show the BBC at their Licence fee-wasting, FOI-objecting Balen report-suppressing anti-Israeli worst. Anyone who heard the interview doesn't need the rehash. Anyone who didn't misses the entire context, the entire reason, why Israel is considering military actions, and is left with the impression that Israel is just being belligerent. Comments |
LinksRecent entries"There's Klingons on the starboard bow" "What's verse - it's the end of paternity leave" "Mark Gerald Allen Lubansky - the birth" My favourite procrastinationsGuido's musings about soccer, politics etc in Australia The Head Heeb - Jonathan provides a balanced view on various Israeli and (former) colonial states in less developed regions of the world. The Bladder - a sports satire site. Well worth a look. Other stuffJewish Bloggers Join >> |
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