One Step Beyond

Hello dear readers!

And a happy Easter to one and all.

Yes it’s that time of year yet again. A time of eggs; bunnies; lambs gambolling in the meadows (I’m assured this has nothing to do with poker or roulette); official, government mandated time off of work; the new season of Doctor Who... oh, and apparently there’s some religious goings-on as well.

Yes, spring is certainly putting a spring in the step (figuratively speaking, that is) and, in these parts at least, this has been helped by a very welcome and much anticipated arrival. At long last, after months of trying, we have a daughter.

Okay, as the daughter in question is Seventeen, that might be just a little bit misleading.

Happy Talk

The young lady in question is Sarah, my lovely step-daughter and her appearance in the Seated Perspective household has been the cause of much joy and frivolity, especially for my wonderful wife, Tina.

Those of you that have the dubious pleasure of joining me on my weekly meanderings will recall just how hard Tina finds it to be separated from her baby girl. I have mentioned it in passing here and here for instance. It makes it that much more satisfying then to see the almost unbearable excitement build to a crescendo in the couple of days before her visit.

Tina has been an increasingly giddy girl as the countdown to S-day has progressed. On Friday, the date of her touchdown, she was like the proverbial kid at Christmas, out of bed early, a smile on her lips, a song in her heart, and a palpable buzz of girlish glee emanating from her every pore like a particularly silly force-field. There may or may not have been cartoon bluebirds.

Of course she wasn’t entirely alone in this surge of excited expectation.

Gene Genie

Sarah may not be the fruit of these particular loins, but since she crashed into my life some seven or so years ago at the tender, and perhaps slightly cuter age of ten she has had a rather profound affect on me.

It’s a peculiar feeling to have parenthood thrust upon you, even if it be parenthood by proxy. To suddenly find that you are partially responsible for the guidance and moulding of a young mind without the preparation of the preceding years is daunting to say the least. Of course I am only a piece of the parenting jigsaw, with Tina, Sarah’s dad, and his partner all being part of the picture. I realise too that I am, if you like, the second line of parenting and, that even as the proud recipient of a fathers day card, whatever small amount of influence I may wield will always come second to those with more of a genetic claim.

That being said, there remains a responsibility to be shouldered. Sarah is wonderful young lady and, despite being an odds on contender for burper of the year, has blossomed into a responsible, considerate, and hard working person. Of course she is still her mother’s daughter, and as such has inherited Tina’s knack for blurting out the most wonderfully ill thought out questions and observations, but despite this she’s actually a bit of a clever clogs too. All of this makes my job all that much easier.

Fangs For That
Still, a job there is and I try to provide guidance where I can. I’m usually firmly in third place when it comes to films with classics being pooh-poohed in favour of a seemingly never ending amount of stories about groups of young, attractive misfits finding the meaning of true friendship through the power of song and/or dance. Saying that, I am proud to say that I introduced her to a certain Mr Buelller (Bueller, Bueller, Bueller..).

I also have a more than willing co-conspirator when it comes to matters Doctor Who. Although my efforts to pull her away from the influence of sparkly, abusively controlling, and ultimately just… lame vampires and into the path of the far more empowering message espoused by the better written, acted, and well... everything, phenomenon that is Buffy The Vampire Slayer have proven to be ultimately futile (despite having watched OMWF). I feel this is possibly the greatest of my parenting failures.

Role Play

Still, matters of geekdom to one side, I think I am justified in feeling proud of the woman that Sarah is becoming and of feeling incredibly lucky to have a solid and very special relationship with her. I know that there are some interesting times ahead as university, parties, jobs, and of course those increasingly interesting boys (who will have to get past two fathers!) become more and more of a factor. I know too that as these things grow in influence we will get to see that little bit less of her, never an ideal situation, especially for Tina.

It will be a challenging time for all concerned and all I can do is promise to do my best to fulfil the roles I have chosen to assume, both husband and indeed, father.

Until next time...