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Catie tested negative for Covid tonight, but too late to help out with another full on day of parenting (and she needs to test negative tomorrow too to be allowed out - we follow the rules in this house). The lucky Covid bastard.
I am away next week, so it’s only fair that I do everything possible this week anyway and she was still not feeling great. Going back over last year for the book I have realised how many sacrifices and hardships she had to go through to get me back on my feet (not least of which was having to put ointment on my stinky crotch rot after I’d worn my jock straps for too long - that should have been a Love is…. cartoon). She deserves a proper break, not just when she’s poorly. She’s the best.
Being a single parent is mind-blowingly difficult. I am ready to explode after just five days of it. Though there are plenty of fun moments to take your mind off the exhaustion and the challenge of it. Ernie is a boy full of emotions, mainly positive. Every morning as he runs into school he stops to hug the deputy head and kiss him on the leg. The deputy head is a bit bemused by it (I am not sure that Ernie has much other interaction with him in the day), but takes it in the spirit that it is intended. It’s all rather sweet, but these days will quickly pass and Ernie won’t feel comfortable expressing himself in this way. It would be weird I suppose if I kissed the deputy head every morning, so there is a pivoting point where it goes from acceptable to wrong.
He’s also quick to get frustrated though and cross though. Welcome to life, boy.
The four year old me is my spirit animal and I remember the utter confusion of being this age, of being stubborn and not listening and being told off, but being cute enough to get away with plenty too. My son is a chip off the old block. I now get the punishment of having to deal with myself. Having kids is the prison sentence for being a kid.
I had to grab my chances to write when I could, but despite doing the school runs and having to take both kids to swimming (not together of course, that would be too easy - two trips to the same place, three hours apart) I actually got a surprising amount done. And I sent off the first half of my new book to the editor to see what she thinks. It feels to me like it’s going well and I am hopeful I can get close to finishing it this month, but it will be great to get an outside view on it. I am so wrapped up in it that it’s tricky to know if it’s (too) self-indulgent or if all the stories are worth keeping. I rather like the fact that it includes plenty of stuff about life going on as normal, whilst my own existence is no longer a sure thing, but let’s see what she thinks.
I also got on the rowing machine for the first time in 2022, but given someone in the family has had Covid for almost the entire month it’s been hard to get on with exercise. But I feel like I am back in the right mindset to take off the Christmas/Covid weight. Worrying that I was having another brush with death has reminded me of why I lost the weight in the first place and I am keen to be as fit as possible to give me the chance to live as long as Barry Cryer did (not that getting fit was something that bothered him). I got to feel what it was like being a bit hungry at bedtime after more or less sticking to my calories for today (and yesterday), but it was a good feeling.
I was tired and hangry by the evening, but it felt like a day well-lived - work, exercise and lots of family time. And after dinner I just about had enough left in me to record a frame of snooker and added a new service to try and attract more sports fans to the project. Up in the usual places on Wednesday.
This month’s monthly badger draw winner is Mark Williams of Ulverston. Just one of benefits of
being a monthly badger (backstage interviews, advance warning of guests, ad free pods, secret newsletters, membership card/badges, secret code, ticket offers etc). All your money goes towards making more podcasts.
