Maybe I'm not the worst father in the world... (Monday, Feb. 20, 2006)

I was heartened to hear about a good friend of my wifes complaining about her husband's behaviour during the birth of her first child. Mostly because I'm often reminded of when I complained that there was no seat for me to sit on during the 12 hours of my wife's labour - but honestly, 12 hours standing? At least she had an epidural to numb the pain, all I had was a cup of tea and a packet of rich tea biscuits. But compared to my behaviour, this guy certainly takes home the gold medal.

His wife went into labour whilst he was visiting his family at 6pm, and when told, he actually enquired as to whether she wanted him to come home. When they got to the hospital at around 8pm, he snuggled into the chair in the corner whilst his wife writhed in pain on the bed, and pulled out a Sudoku puzzle book! But it gets better. Being her first child, it was a fairly prolonged labour, and she was still going strong come 1am. Feeling very uncomfortable, the nurses suggest she walk about and sit in a chair to try and relieve the discomfort, which she duly did. This roused her husband from his sleep (as he had finished all the Sudoku puzzles) and on seeing the empty bed muttered to his wife "it would be a shame to waste it", climbed in and went to sleep.

In dead pet news, I broke the news to the children that their guinea pigs had died - they cried, and as suspected my wife promised them they could have another animal, any one they want. I was reminded of this fact when using our home computer, and found the search terms "hedgehog pet" in google. And when my wife makes a promise, she sure sticks to it. However, after a quick search myself on http://www.thehedgehog.co.uk I was reassured to find out this particular fact; "you should not keep hedgehogs as pets - to keep a healthy hedgehog confined in a small space or garden is cruel and many just give up and die, they need the stimulation of the hunt and feel the need to explore in order to prosper".

Yep, just give up and die, like every other pet we've ever owned....

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