It’s Valentine’s day. Hype? A bumper season for florists? There are articles every where about love, from The Guardian Family Section on Saturday where we read about 5 couples who fell in love at first sight and seemed to buck the trend, ‘Marry in haste, repent at leisure,’ to ‘Sense’ the RBS Magazine which has [...]
Ok. Now let me get this right. Monday is music lesson for……….then Beavers. Tuesday is swimming for two, which two?……then music for one straight after………….and Wednesday is swimming for one, then Cubs for two straight after…………..and all homework has to be done by Thursday …and you are home late from work 3 days this week, [...]
I went to bed last night and he was on the TV explaining what a good deal the public sector pensions are and how hard the Govt is working to make things fair. I got up this morning and he was on the Radio explaining what a good deal the public sector pensions are and [...]
Against the back fence In the pouring rain My Father’s bike. The ‘Raleigh All-Steel’ Two flat tyres. A rusty frame. Standard mudguards. A topless rusting bell. Raindrops dangling from the crossbar Like clothes pegs On an empty line. A back wheel with no gear cogs. High flaking chrome handlebars and a Decidedly uncomfortable looking saddle [...]
“Daddy?” “Yes, love?” Story time is over, and the lights are out – but I’ve noticed my six-year-old son often uses his last waking moments to bowl me the kind of question that might stump a philosophy graduate. Past belters have included: Is the Evil Vilgax (from Ben 10) really evil, or just listening to [...]
Raymond Carver – the American short story writer and poet published a book in 1985 called “Fires”. It is a great collection of essays and poems. Included in the book is a wonderful and moving essay called, “My Father’s Life” and a poem entitled, “Photograph Of My Father In His Twenty Second Year.” He says, [...]
Last month three of us contributed to a conference hosted by Sure Start in West Lothian entitled ‘The Invisible Man: working with fathers’. David Drysdale was first up and his bit on men, fathers and caring was well received. The third was John Roger’s presentation on Mellow Dads and this also went down well with [...]
Fathers Day Storytelling – a celebration of active fatherhood Saturday 18th June, 11:00am-4:00pm at Scottish Storytelling Centre John Knox House 43-45 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SR Open to all dads, with or without their children, as well as people who work with dads in a supportive role. Organisations which support the aims of this event [...]
Paternity-tests: nailing the myth At the beginning of February, Boots’ decision to sell paternity-testing kits sparked another round of lazy journalism. This time about a ‘fear’ that fathers will discover their children are not biologically theirs. The Daily Mail led the pack with: ‘Over-the-counter DIY paternity tests go on sale at Britain’s biggest high street [...]
Last Friday evening I went along to the Filmhouse in Edinburgh to see the film Neds. I knew very little about the film other than that it was written and produced by Peter Mullen which is reason enough to watch it. Set in 1970′s Glasgow the story is undoubtedly rooted in it’s gritty location and [...]