Hello FriDad gang, hope your week has been great and Easter hasn't driven you mad with chocolate fuelled children.

I've really little to talk about this week.
This is normally the time I have something funny to say or interesting to say, but I've got to tell you that I've had a lot on my mind. The overthinking and what not has left little for me to talk about parent wise.

I guess in someways, especially if you're younger that parenting can be a bit like that.

When I first found out I was going to be a parent, I had a real project on my hands with Laura. We had places to buy, things to put in place and a serious hardship to prepare for that I had a lot to talk about.

When Max came I had my next big task, I had to face reality as a dad. It was great starting out, a really exciting time learning all the new things whilst doing everything half tired. I had a lot of figuring out and personal planning to arrange.

My next mountain was juggling work with studies at University and parenthood. By no means am I comparing my experience to others and making it seem as if I drew the short straw. I'm not the least fortunate, but knowing my 'backstory' (informal scripty term POW!) I would consider myself the boy least likely to.

Now I'm here. I graduated with the grade I set out to prior to having Max, I have a job still and now my son is self sufficient. I have conquered my biggest life mountain so far. But now, as graduates discover swiftly is I'm now left with one question: So, what next?

It seems crazy that happily ever after is used in story and we believe we can achieve our own. But I've discovered as many before me will tell you, there's no true comfort.

The comfort you desire or comfort you have designed can be very easily be disrupted making it difficult to salvage.
A phrase I can only describe it as (if it's not patented, I'm doing it now!) comfort is over the mountain that's next.
You're not ready to rest until it is all said and done.

Well, I've found it tough to tackle my latest mountain, but I think the obvious thing or project is to point my life into the direction that brings us closer to comfort.
Plenty of different directions it can go and of course there's mountain once I've conquered this, but I know I'll look forward to it.

So returning to my point, which in truth doesn't necessarily identify with young parents, but with parents in general is don't stop looking for your next mountain and how you're going to overcome it. It can be a huge life change or little bits and bobs that inconvenience life. Note it, plan it then tackle it. You'll either succeed or find a new solution.

Well, that was great to discuss. I'll follow up on this discussion with a relevant topic next FriDad. Until next time, enjoy your weekend.

I love shopping for Max's clothes. Alongside buying things on the high street I also love smaller boutique brands, ones that you can grab at wonderful independent shops. Here are some of my favourites.

1. Mini Rodini - Gorgeous designed kids clothing. This season is all based around zoos and wildlife and I'm in love with the elephant and toucan ranges.
   
2. Beau LOves - Beau LOves is a bit more cutting edge fashion wise. I love the cat theme this season as cats are fabulous!
   
3. Monkey and Mole - Looking at these moccs I want my own pair but sadly they are only in baby and toddler sizes. The colours are so rich and I can't wait to get my hands on some for Max to stomp about in.
   
4. Corby Tindersticks - A wonderful British brand. They design everything from soft toys to clothing. This weather map is one of my favourites, Max would go nuts each morning pinning all the seasons onto the map.
   
5. LuckyBoySunday - Made of gorgeous soft wool, this company create blankets, soft toys and furnishings in weird and wonderful creatures to create a unique world.
   
6. Naked Lunge - Max has his own Max Naked Lunge doll. Alongside the normal ranges you can occasionally create your own doll and cushion to look like anyone! A great personalised gift. 

I could list hundreds more, in fact each month I am going to pick a few more to show you. It's not all about H&M and Toys'R'Us. There are tonnes of independent retailers that produce fantastic goods for you too!

So as may of you know me and Max are massive McFly and McBusted fans. I went and saw them in Bournemouth with my best mate on monday night and felt so guilty for not taking Max that I bought him a gorgeous OMFG tin with some signed goodies in it and a patch to sew on his denim jacket.

My two boys are like peas in a pod. You can tell when they are angry when they furrow their brows and you can tell when they're happy as they get dimples in their cheeks.

It seems I took a bit of an impromptu hiatus this past week. Please don't fret. I didn't disappear of the face of the blogging earth. In fact if you have been following me on Instagram and Twitter then you will know that I've been busy working hard at two stores this week.



On Friday we had the grand opening on the new Waterstones store in Ringwood. Whilst it's a dream to work there it was fascinating to watch it develop from a bare shell on Monday to a fully fledged book store by Friday. From putting the shelves in place on Monday (It's really hard to work out how tall they need to be for books by the way!) to filling them with stock on Tuesday. By Wednesday - my last day on the building site - it looked like a beautiful store.

Hello FriDad, it's actually good FriDad.

This week has been a tiring one for me, I got a fair taste of full time parenthood.

Don't get me wrong, it was great spending hard quality time and making plans for fun days out. What took away from it, personally was time and energy to focus on the one thing that niggles and eats at me every night. Writing.

If Laura hasn't explained I aspire to become a script writer. I always enjoyed writing and making stories up as a child, pursued acting then decided I want to give writing a shot at 19.

Since then I graduated University with a scriptwriting degree and have written sketches for radio and a short film for someone's final major project (big boasting point: starring a girl who was in Snow White and the Huntsmen).

However, since stepping out of University, there has only been one real agenda: survive.

Money ran stupidly low, it was our luck the car suffered issues, we had to pay for full time child care and well...writing doesn't lead to a 9-5 job. That career is sale after sale, even then that's spattered with rejections etc.

I've gone from having plenty of writing time to having little time to focus. As was the case this week.

The part that I guess hurts is the free fall has left me feeling if it's worth chasing when the main goal is to build our lives in time for Max to go to school,

Returning to this week. There are opportunities for me to write for competitions and the BBC. They are approaching fast and I've simply not rewritten my story.

I put myself in a position where I said: do I hinder writing and give Max my full attention or do I write whilst Max is here and squander the chance to have some quality time he deserves.

I guess it's tough when you have to compromise, but I feel I made the decision that was fair.

Ultimately, it was a sacrifice and procrastination has worn me down. This is the part in a script they call the 'all is lost' moment. Watch back Disney films and you'll see it, it's near the end.

However, as cruddy as I feel for missing out on writing I was dealt a lifeline. Laura.

She came home Wednesday to see me moping on the sofa, not even looking at the tons of notes I have and plans for a new draft. She ran over and offered me some encouragement. Something to fuel the fire she knows I have.
It's been tough when a lot of times Laura and I rely on one another, but the great thing is even though we've not known each other a serious amount of time, we support each other.

I'm glad to say I'm revitalised and refreshed from the chat we have. Plenty of motivation for the deadline.

To conclude, I truly admire single parents that don't have that helping hand or stay at home parents with little to work with. I learnt it's no easy task and it can tire you. What I hope is there are those that have dreams and desires for the future. I hope that they keep hem in sight and find ways to work towards them everyday regardless.

Well, I guess there's little use talking about it now. Time to get grinding. Thanks for listening to FriDad. Have a great weekend. Get those dreams alive...I'm procrastinating again...bye!

So with less than a month to go before our Butlin's Ambassadors break I wanted to make a head start and start preparing what we want to see and do whilst we are there. Having been previously in September we knew what was on offer and can learn from some of the things we missed out on! So here's a list of some things we want to remember and do:


We are staying in the Neptune Room in the Ocean Hotel. One perk of this is that we don't have to worry about getting things ready, we can run into our room and flop down on the bed after a long day having fun. We chose a hotel over an apartment as we had already stayed in one last time and felt that we wanted to indulge ourselves and feel like we were really away on holiday!

This easter the dinosaurs seem to be taking over. From Walking With Dinosaurs in the cinema to lots of dino themed things filling the shops, it's like they've been resurrected!



My work is situated on a complex with loads of other shops called Castlepoint, situated just outside Bournemouth town centre and this easter we have been invaded! Slowly but surely dinosaurs have been appearing across the compex. From baby ones hidden in shop windows to massive ones that terrify me when I finish at night time! They have cut no corners in providing customers with an experience to remember.

Alongside the dinos there were the wonderful people over at Wild World Reptiles showing off some of their amazing collection. Not being one to shy away Max went straight up and stroked all of them; even this Tegu which I thought was pretty damn cute but creepy! He was also smitten with Bob the bearded dragon. Wild World Reptiles are more than just a shop though, they also host parties where the guests can learn about reptiles, handling, looking after them and of course getting to pet them!

This coming week the fun doesn't stop. There's crafts, the reptiles are returning and there is a surprise guest...A real life Velociraptor (well kinda!) So I'm definitely going to be heading back with Max for that.

Easter is coming. And whilst we all love a bit of chocolate, we find that Max gets a bit overwhelmed with it and we would prefer to buy him a small gift instead. Whether that be a toy, clothing or a day out it's nicer than something that will just hype him up for the rest of the day!

• Mini Rodini Toucan Leggings
• Naked Lunge Make a Doll
• Sonny Angel Doll
• Rick The Pull Along Rabbit
• Beau LOves Cat Tshirt
• Squashblox

Fridad has returned. I hope your week was a dandy.

This weeks was decimate. It was a heck of a quiet one. We felt the pinch this week, so we took it easy...maybe a little too easy.

We have consciously been trying to get more active now the weather is starting to get better. Don't get me wrong, we love our duvet days but Max seems to get cabin fever after 2 hours so we always try and get out and about. Even if it's just to the park on our scooters that fresh air does us all the world of good. We are trying to become healthier. Not just in our bodies but in knowledge of the world so that we can educate Max on the right things.

Max loves running, jumping, dancing and burning up all that energy. One of his favourite things to do at the moment that isn't dance class is play American Football. Scott is a massive fan so you will guarantee to find them once a day running around throwing the ball to each other on the field next to us.

We want to be active and healthy. And we promise ourselves and Max that each day, no matter the weather we will spend an least an hour outside. From dancing in the sun to jumping in muddy puddles. Nothing beats the outdoors.

So when the rain started to pour we decided to have our lovely friend Emma over for a baking session. It was in fact her idea to make pizzas, we normally stick to cakes. But we were up for the challenge and armed with a few ingredients we set to work all mixing and kneading the dough.

500g plain flour
7g yeast
325ml lukewarm water

Mix together until a dough is formed, set it somewhere warm and allow it to rise until double the size (roughly an hour)

Whilst that was rising we decided to make some yummy cakes and prepare the toppings. Because we were trying to use things we already had we just bought some mushrooms and mozzarella for the topping as the rest we already had.

The base was a mix of tomato puree, ketchup and mixed Italian herbs.
Sprinkled on top was mushrooms, mozzarella and thinly sliced ham.

We all had great fun hitting the dough to flatten it out in the right shape. We even tried to make patterns and faces using the toppings. Max's is above - it's supposed to be a face!

After a 15 minute bake in the oven they were ready to munch down on and let's just say we were not disappointed! I think we might be making them again sometime soon.

A happy belated Sun Dad folks.

Preparation and busyness has set back Fri Dad, unlike Laura I pick my spot usually close to FriDad or FriDad night.

This weekend I'm in London or as I call it free. I'm free of the kid police to enjoy myself as my dad takes care of the sprog. By all means, please don't think I take that for granted. I'm lucky I have parents and parent in laws etc. available to give a helping hand to get some free time.

The fact I referred to Max as the kid police is the topic for the day. Let's throw in a situation that would send shivers down a parents spine.

What if children called the shots.

In most cases, they do. Their determination and expectations lead them to be demanding and set in their mind as to how they want the world to work. For one I understand it, everything in the world is new to them. The more they can be stimulated and more they can experience the better they feel about life.
But, let's give them complete rule of the roost. All the rules, all the authority and cannot be outspoken.
What would the world look like. I haven't got the time to list them all, but let's shed some light on what we'd have to expect.

Personal slavery: That's right. We've abolished slavery and prohibit it, but it's one that would rear it's ugly head. You become the personal chauffeur, chef, chore completer and any other slave like job you can think of.
Forget your job, there is no job anymore. This is what you do now.

Pay abolished: This would have some advantages. Some children don't truly understand the concept of wages, tax, debt and inflation.
They don't understand who gets the money, where it comes from and what earns you money...except if the tooth fairy is about.
With this, you are given an unlimited amount of money. By having this, you can provide whatever their needs are. No more 'can't go on the Bob the Builder ride' or 'can't afford those sweets'. It's all capable. Prepare to fill your schedule with trips and shopping sprees. They will never end.

NO EARLY NIGHTS!: Forget 'em. Your free time has gone, hope you like coffee or red bull. You're gonna' need it FOREVER!

Sweets at dinner: Really? You couldn't figure that out yourself.

Children's tv 24 hours: This one hurts. All the great TV shows exist no more. Move over Broadchurch, the real mystery show is Rastamouse. Bye bye Breaking Bad, the only the who knocks is Justin/ Mr. Tumble (I'd watch that if Justin's House was a harbinger of pure drug dealing).

And also...

Infinite wisdom: School becomes a social event, the only people they need to ask questions about everything in the world is you, the all knowing and impeccable answerer of the question 'why?'. You are now a modern day Descartes, philosophy is irrelevant. Theories and perceptions don't hold up at all, just fact exists.

If you can envisage that world. Chuck in your horrors or blessings. But before you spin yourself into a whirlwind of thoughts, I hope you had a good weekend and see you again next week.

I bet you've all seen the advert? The little girl with her cat in her basket blaring out "We Built This City". We sure love it in the Castle household! That girl and cat have enough attitude and sass that we all secretly want to ride around on the bike ourselves. And with over 5 million hits in a month you can tell that the world is falling in love with this ad too!

Three were ever so kind to send us a few Kitty goodies to keep our obsessions tiding over. This included a ticket/card wallet which will be great for our oyster cards when me and Scott head to London at the weekend. Some lenses for my Iphone so that I could create amazing photos and videos (the fish eye one is ACE!). And finally an Iphone 5s case so I can literally spread my love for that adorable kitty.

Even better. To fuel your addiction for that superb song and kitty you can create your own version of the video using the site Sing It Kitty! This site takes a photo of your face and animates it in place of the little girl. A bit like those novelty elf videos you can do at Christmas - But so much better!

I may have done one myself. And shown it to Scott more than once! You can view it by clicking this link!

Have you made a kitty video yet? If so then let me know by sharing the link here or tweeting using the hashtag #singitkitty