We’re at Rhyme Time and everyone is singing an extended version of The Wheels on the Bus. We’ve covered the wheels (round and round), the wipers (swish), doors (open and shut), driver (“any more fares?”), bell (ding) and we’re into the further reaches. “The grannies on the
Just when you feel family life is in a good rhythm, everything jerks to a halt. He seems a bit off, you notice what could be the start of a rash on a finger, then his cheek. You all have a terrible night’s sleep and in the morning you
Our kid is coming up on 13 months. One year was a big milestone for us as parents, a moment to look back and reflect. I find myself asking ‘what were we doing on this day last year?’ and marvel at how our world back then was so small and
Food sustains this house. In a literal sense, of course, but it’s also the drumbeat of our life. The tasks of shopping, cooking and eating give the day structure, and anticipation of something great for dinner often lifts spirits throughout the day. Except, for a period of time, it
I’m really privileged that I get to spend so much time with my kid. And I love it. Almost all of it. Almost… The bit that I don’t enjoy: getting into the second hour of trying to convince an infant he really should be sleeping when he’s
The countdown is on. In a few days our baby will be one year old. We’re fielding questions about what we’re doing for his birthday. Truth is that this – his very first – is the birthday that is most about us rather than him. A celebration of surviving our
In the middle of the heatwave, something of a milestone. Sheltering in the air-conditioning of Malaysian restaurant Sudu, we actually ordered lunch for our 10-month old. Not from the children’s menu – but from the main menu’s sides he had a fried egg and a plain roti,
We’re deep into the heatwave. There were a few days of respite at one point, but the whole month has seen our daytime temperature around or above 30º and nights rarely dropping below 20º. Tropical nights, they call them. The days of greeting an impending heatwave with a ‘wahey’
This is a long post full of practical tips for feeding a weaning baby – if you're not currently doing that or about to do it, you may find the level of detail too much! The literal intersection of food and fatherhood is feeding our baby, fast coming up
A question has been going around in my head for a few weeks: is parenting boring? We’re nine months in now and he’s very fun at the moment. The question got into my head from an article in The Atlantic entitled Boredom is the Price We Pay for
Can you ever really be prepared for the arrival of your first child? I think back to those final days before he arrived, and what I wrote in my notebook at the time. The board’s column for kitchen tasks stands empty as granola and roast garlic are ticked. ‘Be
I had an idea – labelled in my head as The Sauce Project – where I would make one new sauce each week, with the best ones entering my regular repertoire. Sauce here would be quite a wide definition: salsas, moles, dressings, the chutneys of South Indian cooking, Thai nam priks would