And then you have nights like last night that make up for all those others: following instructions without threats; only having to ask 4 or 5 times; interesting conversation and some unprompted affection.

Oh fatherhood, how amazing a ride it is.

Oliver has been taking an interest in my camera of late which is great but I do catch myself wincing a bit when he slings it over his shoulder. Anyway he took this shot at Collingwood Children’s Farm over the easter long weekend which I thought was a nice one.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

It’s a fabulous explanation of our consumer driven culture and the affect it has on our environment and others (i.e. those in third world countires).

Say cheese daddy, originally uploaded by jmansfield.

Nice photo Ollie

“Australia is one of only two countries in the Western world that do not have government-paid [paternity] leave. The other [funnily enough] is the United States.”

And I knew Sweden had it good but I didn’t realise how good. According to the Economist

“In Sweden, a couple can take up to 13 months off work between them, with the state paying 80% of lost wages up to a ceiling of SKr24,562 ($3,425) a month.”

Luckily when we had my second son William my wonderful employer The Hiser Group paid me full pay for 2 weeks.

And it amazes me how many people think we are lucky to get the baby bonus – give me strength!

In the next elections, can Australians please vote for a government who cares about our social values, the environment and education – not our bloody economy!

It was one of those moments where you stop and think about how amazing the technology we have is. And it got me thinking that it’s pretty cool that they have the energy and have taken the time to learn how to fumble their way around on a computer.

And then the epiphany came – it’s will be post-children before I’ll have the opportunity to take on a large personal challenge like they did. My days are consumed with making money and my evenings with grooming my children for life in the big wide world.

After helping me to get a pot of Chilli Con Carne bubbling away on the stove, Oliver and I set about using the last of the light to turn the soil in our garden bed and plant some of the seedlings that desperately needed some more room to grow.

Oliver loves gardening with me and there were cute moments every where – none more so than when I has kneeling down planting some spinach and he came and stood right next to me and put his arm on my shoulder. It was the first time he had done it and I melted on the spot. A big smile came over me but I kept doing what I was doing and slowed the pace a little, to savour the moment.

Victoria also noticed him trying to use his little plastic hand shovel like I use my big shovel. Putting his foot on the top of the blade to push it in dirt – very cute.

You have some tough days with them and one great afternoon like that makes it all worth while – and some.

We headed down the park with Otto, the delightful little 4 year old boy from next door, with big plans to fly the kite high up in the air with kids running and screaming and having loads of fun.

When Otto went first to fly the kite, things started to turn sour. Oliver got so angry he snorted two big streams of snot out his nose, and then he ran over to Otto and tried on this pathetic slap that anyone who is not his father would have laughed at. I was shocked, aghast, appalled, disapponted and a lot of other adjectives. And then when we told him to apolagise, he wouldn’t have a bar of it. Oliver and I went home with tears flowing applenty.

I have to say I was diappoionted I didn’t get some kite flying time in.