I may have mentioned before that being a working father like most other fathers, I usually miss all the "firsts" for our children. On Monday 3rd November 2014 whilst travelling to work, I received a text from Nikala informing me that Ellie had rolled from front to back for the first time. Great news of course, but once again I had missed it, and although I knew I would get a repeat performance it is never the same as being there for the first time when your child does something new or reaches one of those pivotal developmental stages.
I appreciate that it sounds a little silly to be upset about missing something as "unimportant" as a child rolling from its back to its tummy, but when it is your own child these small achievements suddenly seem monumental and when you miss all those little things it begins to add up. Before you know it it feels like you are missing your child growing up. As I type this I can imagine my younger self, the one before children reading it and thinking "don't be ridiculous, its just a baby rolling for goodness sake, its not like she has learned to play Mozart or become the first baby to travel tot he moon!" I am sure there are a few of you thinking something similar. Believe me, for those of you that don't yet have children, if you ever do and you find yourself having to be a working parent, I hope you will recall this and see it in a different light. Of course I could just be an overly emotional, big softy. In fact I know I am, but I'm OK with that when it comes to my kids. Eyes brimming up in the boardroom gets a little embarrassing mind you...
That evening, I was running a bath for the kids, and Nikala called me to come and see if Ellie would show me her new found rolling skills on the bed. So in I went to see the recently upgraded mobile version of my daughter and straight away she began to roll from her back to her front. 'Yay!' we cried 'Well done my darling girl!' But she didn't stop there, the roll continued and she went from her front to her back. 'Wahay Ellie! Well done! She hasn't managed to go back to her front like that before!' exclaimed Nikala. And I had got my "first" after all.
I appreciate that it sounds a little silly to be upset about missing something as "unimportant" as a child rolling from its back to its tummy, but when it is your own child these small achievements suddenly seem monumental and when you miss all those little things it begins to add up. Before you know it it feels like you are missing your child growing up. As I type this I can imagine my younger self, the one before children reading it and thinking "don't be ridiculous, its just a baby rolling for goodness sake, its not like she has learned to play Mozart or become the first baby to travel tot he moon!" I am sure there are a few of you thinking something similar. Believe me, for those of you that don't yet have children, if you ever do and you find yourself having to be a working parent, I hope you will recall this and see it in a different light. Of course I could just be an overly emotional, big softy. In fact I know I am, but I'm OK with that when it comes to my kids. Eyes brimming up in the boardroom gets a little embarrassing mind you...
That evening, I was running a bath for the kids, and Nikala called me to come and see if Ellie would show me her new found rolling skills on the bed. So in I went to see the recently upgraded mobile version of my daughter and straight away she began to roll from her back to her front. 'Yay!' we cried 'Well done my darling girl!' But she didn't stop there, the roll continued and she went from her front to her back. 'Wahay Ellie! Well done! She hasn't managed to go back to her front like that before!' exclaimed Nikala. And I had got my "first" after all.
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