2000th Blog Post

Amazingly I started this blog about 14 years ago and today achieve a pretty incredible milestone of 2000 blog posts. I haven't blogged much in 2021 yet because I was conscious that the 2000th milestone was coming and wanted it to be something special. However with the Lockdown 3.0 due to new strain of Covid-19 (which is spreading faster than last years strain) has meant we have barely left the house since Xmas. Further more the schools are once again completely shut (unless you are a key worker) and therefore we have all 3 kids at home for home schooling.

The home schooling is hard for us and for the kids and is something that we will never truly understand as it is not something we ever went through. Tina tries to cover Holly's home schooling and I try and oversee the two boys whilst also doing by day job. This can be a real challenge as working from home means I probably spend 75% of the time on Teams / WEBEX calls meaning I am not always available for them. I really worry about the impact last year and this year is going to have on all of their development and education. I know the kids will hate me for saying this, but I kind of wish the government would simply insist they all have to stay on another year to catch up for lost education.

The world around us has changed so much in the 14 years that I have been writing this blog and to be honest if I was part of a young couple starting out now, I would seriously think twice about bringing a child in to this world. That being said I have absolutely no regrets about having 3 children and cannot imagine life without them. So despite how grim the world currently is, I thought it would be good to look back at where is all started for Joshua, Brandon and Holly and where they are now.

So here we are from day 1 of Joshua, Brandon and Holly to current day. What a ride it has been.

All 3 of them have changed so much and as they change it brings more and more challenges to us as parents. The two boys have definitely entered the "teenage" years and long gone are the 6am morning and crying out for a lay-in of a weekend. These days you re lucky if you see the two boys before lunchtime and then even when they do get up, they will only come downstairs for food and keep themselves locked away in their bedrooms most of the time.

Joshua is still as reckless as ever and doesn't always think things through, but despite that he is very mature and grown up for his age and is by far the most independent out of the 3 kids. Not to mention the fact that he has only just turned a teenager and is almost as tall as me (by year end I reckon I will be looking up at him). Still very unclear where he sees himself going for a career but it is early days, I think the latest was possibly a policeman.

Brandon has turned in to a very handsome young man but just lacks confidence in his own abilities. If ever there was a kid who has unlimited potential and could do what ever he wants in life, it is Brandon. He just needs to believe in himself and his abilities. I really have high hopes for Brandon if we can just steer him on the right track.

Then there is Holly, what can I say about my little Princess. She is growing so fast and it is shocking to see her turning in to a lady at such a young age. I might be biased, but she is such a pretty little girl who has a real sassiness about her. On one hand I feel sorry for any future boyfriends as they have their hands full with her, on the other hand I hope that day never comes when I have to deal with her having a boyfriend. Holly is by far the most creative of the 3 kids with her arts and crafts and arguably the most musical as well.

13 years old and almost as tall as me already!!! Josh is going to be a big lad.