Brilliant dad feature week 41

This week our brilliant dad feature is Richard who is 32 years old, married to his beautiful wife Keighley and they have two children together, Oliver who is two years old and Leo who is eight months old. 

Richard blogs at 2 Bottles of milk and a packet of nappies.

Thank you to Richard for taking part.

1. Have you always wanted to be a dad?

The short answer is yes. I have always loved kids and what they represent in life, that innocence and ignorance that as an adult you loose. When I was at school I always knew that I wanted to be a father one day and when Oliver was born it felt as if I had been completed as a person and the same when Leo was born.

2. How did you feel when your children were born?

As I said in question one it made me feel complete as a person. That being said I also felt a huge responsibility that I was now responsible for this little person that I was holding in my arms.

3. What have been your most rewarding experiences so far as a Dad?

I would have to say seeing my kids grow especially Oliver since Leo has been born. He has gone from being a baby to a little boy in the last eight months and it’s been amazing to see. Oliver has been great with Leo especially since we have had so many appointments for Leo’s hearing, he has just accepted it and then he has also helped with his hearing aids trying to put them back in when Leo takes them out. It’s made me so proud to see that bond they’ve developed.  

4. What are some of funniest moments to have happened to you as a dad?

We are probably going through these now as Oliver becomes more fluent in his speech and also more sure of himself and opinionated, some of the things he comes out with are truly ‘out of the mouth of babes’ sort of stuff. One recent thing I can recall is when I was singing along to the Paw Patrol theme when it was on and Oliver was saying ‘stop daddy’ over and over again and because I didn’t he turned and looked at me and said in a very sad voice ‘please stop daddy, you’re bad’ I couldn’t help, but laugh.

5. Have there been any situations with your children that you have found difficult to cope with?

There haven’t been that many, but probably the one I have found hardest is when people judge me when I’m out and about with my kids. I had an incident in our local Asda where Oliver decided to throw himself on the floor because I had said he couldn’t have something so I picked him up and walked round the corner with him screaming. I proceeded to tell him off, nothing other than asking him to stop it and explaining why he couldn’t have what he wanted when a woman came charging round the corner telling me I was a horrible man and that she was going to call the police on me. 

Luckily there was an elderly gentleman there that had witnessed the whole thing and told her to get lost. That was probably the most stressful situation I’ve been in as a parent.

6. What are your dreams and hopes for your children?

The main hope I have is that they grow up to have a good life and a life where they are able to support themselves.