It’s not unusual for me to wonder what I’ll write about each week but it is rare for me to worry that I won’t have time to write anything at all.
This week I have been home alone while my family are variously away on holiday or busy working in London pressing through the throng of people queuing along the South Bank waiting to pay their respects to the late Queen. I’m looking after the dogs alone while trying to work and I confess it’s been a stretch.
I have also been writing a talk on the subject of child and adolescent mental health, a task which has been a challenge not least because I don’t really work with either children or adolescents.
“Yes, but you are a father and all your clients used to be children,” my daughter says quite reasonably via text from her sun lounger in Cyprus.
Also taking a lot of time has been going on long walks with the dogs so that the young one will sleep for a few hours allowing me to get on with the work I have fallen behind with due to being out on long walks with the dogs.
The realisation late in life that I have an appalling sense of direction hasn’t helped either.
Getting genuinely lost in a vast area of woodland once a week is unfortunate but twice is careless and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but trees are beautiful but look very similar.
It didn’t tire the dogs out either because less than an hour into working I had to abandon my presentation to rescue some shoes from the mouth of the puppy.
My daughter texts again.
“How are you getting on?”
“I’m tired but fine.”
“Is Nelly being difficult?”
The truth is she wasn’t. I’ve just got used to having more time available than is the case this week
The only time-saving strategy I can claim in the recent past is as a result of avoiding any caffeine after midday which has enabled me to sleep all night without getting up for a wee.
It hasn’t helped me get more work done but has meant that I don’t have an opportunity to think about the work I haven’t done while I stumble along to the toilet at 3.30 am.
Although, now that I’m thinking about it, I’ve had a really lovely week.
I’ve wandered around some stunning woodlands, albeit for longer than I’d anticipated. I’ve been to the seaside for a very blustery swim (the dogs, not me), played a lot of “fetch”, and spent more time than usual in the company of the most forgiving and understanding of companions.
The dogs also provided me with the perfect conclusion to my talk on child and adolescent mental health.
Summing up what we as parents can do to help keep our children on an even keel it boils down mostly to acceptance, patience, avoiding unnecessary judgement, and unconditional love, all skills that dogs possess in abundance.
You never know, if I can just get the puppy to sleep for an hour I might even find the time to write about it.
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