Crimperman.org

I must confess I’ve never been one for writing diaries et al. so my blog is fairly sparse. To be honest this was an experiment anyway (to see if I could actually be bothered to blog) so I guess I have my answer.

Anyway I have recently discovered Pepys Diary and being British and a Londoner, I am enjoying it. Here we have a real blog, an insight into life in 17th Century London (okay, into Pepys life). Great stuff.

our Son (first) has just turned one and, like many new parents I guess, I find myself in between a feeling of the last year going so quick and yet it seeming like a lot longer than only a year since we first brought him home.

I guess I tend towards the latter – it’s kind of hard to remember life before him. Before you jump to any conclusions, this is not because of the “dreaded” sleepless nights and nappies but because I just can’t imagine getting home from work and not seeing his smile (schmultzy I know but true).

The thing is – and this is for all those prospective first time parents who have been met with choruses of “oooh sleepless nights, nappies… good luck!” whenever they tell anyone they’re expecting – all that stuff, all the nappies that make you gag, sleepless nights and hours of worry while you try to decipher what this particualr “waaaagghhhh” actually means and why your attempts to stop it are not working, all those things are made worth it every time your child looks up at you and smiles with recognition. This is why new parents become a bit of a baby bore at work, when your life seems an endless stream of poo and sick the slightest glimmer of hope, like a smile, seems like a giant leap for mankind. But equally when you suddenly see that little parcel of flesh start to do things for itself – like grow or focus or react to your voice – you get a clarity and excitement which cannot be put into words – but hey you try anyway!

So for all you who have been bored by new parents – especially those who know me – forgive us – we’re just excited in a way we can’t explain and although we know we’re a pain we just can’t help it.

And for all those who are expecting – ignore everything anybody says to you about long labour, sleepless nights, nappies, sick and crying. All those things happen but so do things like – smiles, turning towards your voice, sitting up, holding a toy, crawling, walking, laughing, gurgling, singing, eating solid food. These may not seem like remarkable things – after we do them all the time – but when you watch another person do them for the first time and you remember that just a short year ago all it seemed they could do was cry because they had just arrived.

Bit of blatant self back-patting here but a site that I have developed for my employer (Contact a Family) called MakingContact.org is up for two national awards.

MC.Org is designed to allow families of disabled children to get in touch with each other in a secure and safe way, building much needed support networks.

It has been shortlisted for two national awards: The Guardian Public Services Awards and the Community Care Awards.

I’ve been interested in the concept of blogging for some time now but didn’t get one because quote frankly I didn’t know if I’d ever use it.

So, instead of trying to work out if I ‘d use one before i got one, I’ve decided to set this one and see what happens.