Brilliant dad feature week 80 

This week our brilliant dad feature is James. He is from Reading in the UK. He’s married to Sarah and they have an awesome 2 year old son called Joshua. His blog is just somewhere that he can write about things that inspire him and that will hopefully give people a bit of a laugh when they read it! It recounts his pretty ordinary life that has been turned on its head since the arrival of their little one, when he suddenly became Joshua’s Dad! His blog is at A life just ordinary and he is  on Twitter as JoshuasDadJames.

Thank you very much to James for taking part in the Brilliant Dad Feature. 

1. Have you always wanted to be a dad?

Yes! I’d always naturally assumed I’d be a dad one day. For some reason I always thought this would happen just after I turned 30 but in the end it worked out that I was 35 when our little one arrived! Looking back I wouldn’t have changed the timing because it meant my other half and I could go on most of the holidays we wanted to and enjoy a few years of married life before the little one came and changed everything!

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

A whole mixture of emotions! Definitely excited, but also nervous about how I’d be as a dad and whether the little one would change our lives for the better of for the worst! Also a big sense of relief that both my wife and the little one had came through the whole birth experience in one piece!

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

Although it’s all been a lot more difficult and intense that I’d expected it has also been amazing! Holding him after he was born was brilliant if utterly terrifying! His first crawl, first steps, first smile and first words were all incredible! I think you end up with an amazing sense of pride for all the little things they do. Holding hands at the beach a few weeks ago whilst splashing in the water was pretty much what I had hoped being a dad would be!

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

A few have involved poo! Most memorably after he’d been on some medication for reflux I was changing his nappy when suddenly a flume of poo flew across the room splattering the walls and everything in its path! Not majorly funny at the time but certainly amusing in retrospect! 

Other times have been accidental mispronounciations of innocent words into swear words! He took a while to say ‘shirt’, ‘shorts’ and ‘fox’ without sounding like he was swearing and still struggles with ‘clock’!!

Mainly the most funny times though are when he laughs hysterically for no particular reason and we can’t help but join in!!

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

Pretty much every day! The complete lack of sleep and what felt like constant crying for the first 6 months was torture at the time! He pretty much screamed every night from 7pm to 11pm and would only settle down to sleep after an hour of driving around the local area! Obviously at the time he couldn’t tell us what he needed so that was really frustrating!

More recently he’s been having a few meltdowns over the smallest of things and that’s been tough to get my head around too – I’m a pretty logical, level-headed person so the random tantrum outbursts are not something that I can relate to or know how to fix!

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

As long as he grows up to be happy and healthy I’ll be delighted! However, I hope he chooses a good path and that he treats other people well, that he works hard to make the most of his abilities and that he embraces whatever he decides to be.