Damn the damn weather! Bryan and I were planning to head to London this weekend to take part in a fun Go Ape session, but the weather forecast is not very pleasant. I for one don’t fancy wandering around Battersea Park with strong winds and rain whipping our way the whole time. So we’ve postponed it until next weekend, and we’re having a weekend at home instead.

I don’t mind. It’s nice to get out, but being home is a nice way to spend time. Bryan and I even baked a cake this morning, which I think is very impressive for two people whose baking skills begin and end with Betty Crocker’s best. By the way, did you know that Betty Crocker isn’t real? I always assumed that Mrs. Crocker either founded the company or was a leading figure in it – but no. She was invented as the family-friendly face of a faceless corporation. It’s a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but a bit of a shock nonetheless.

Putting aside the controversies in the world of baking, I now have another week off where we plan to take it very slow and easy. I continue to struggle with the thought of my son starting Year 9 where we will soon start discussing options, his first GCSE exam (it starts early) and on to his next academic phase of life. I went to Holy Cross in Broadstairs many moons ago (well, it must be as the school has been closed and demolished for a damn long time) and I don’t really remember getting my GCSE grades. I went and collected them but it’s all very blurry.

I do remember, however, picking up my A-level results; this was two years later at Dane Court, and I was hoping for some decent grades. One of my subjects had been Sociology, which I found really interesting, and I was expecting a B or C in the subject. My first impression that I might have done well in the subject came when I approached the Sixth Form building and saw one of my Sociology teachers standing in the entrance. He saw me, beamed, and shook my hand. But when I entered the building and saw the Head of Sixth Form, she congratulated me. I can’t reproduce the exact sentence she said to me, at least not in writing, but when I opened the envelope I thought something pretty similar in my head. I’d gotten an A in Sociology, and hadn’t done too badly in my other subjects either.

I tell Bryan this from time to time to remind him that we all get through our exams somehow. They were incredibly stressful back then, but I can barely remember them now. The subjects were interesting and I learned a lot, but I also gained a lot of real-world experience and some other qualifications that broadened my horizons.

As a student it is difficult to know where life will take you. If you had told my 18-year-old self that by my 40s I would be a father, doing lots of different things and having published a few books, I would have thought you were completely crazy. That was not my life plan at 18. My career path has taken a winding path over the last 25 years. There are people who have stayed in the same job (if not with the same employer) for their whole working life; my father was a journalist for his whole working life and I know people who have worked in the NHS for their whole working life.

I’ve had lots of different jobs. I’ve been a library assistant, an administrator, a communications officer. I’ve worked in local councils, some local businesses and a few charities. I never wanted to work from home until Covid hit and then I found that it works really well for me as a single dad. I don’t think I’d ever want to go back to an office full time. I get my work and thanks to modern technology it doesn’t matter where I work from. Times have changed in the first half of my career and as I’ll inevitably be working for another 28 or 30 years, I’m excited to see what the next half brings.

Whatever Bryan chooses to do with his career – and dancing is his greatest passion – I know I will be proud of him and I can’t wait to see where his life takes him.