The seven ages of me...

I'm not sure who first said that kids keep you young, but so far the complete reverse seems to be happening to me.

Since finding out about my impending parenthood I've felt the crushing onset of middle age - many would say not a day too soon....

Luckily it's not the accompanying decrepitude - I'm slimmer, fitter and healthier than I've been all my adult life.

No, it's more of a cultural and psychological shift. Over the past 20 years I've basically been doing the same things as I did when I was 18 years old. Pubs, gigs, movies, football etc etc. It's easy to see why women often complain about their men not growing up!

Now, though, I've felt a real change come over me. I've become utterly disinterested in the "indie" guitar music that sustained me through literally hundreds of gigs over the years. I'd so much rather listen to Frank Sinatra than the Arctic Monkeys.

I find I'm preferring to stay at home rather than go out, eat nice home-cooked meals (some even cooked by myself!) and watch a DVD rather than stand in a smoky pub with a pint of over-priced lager - Jesus, what's come over me?

Still, I guess it's great preparation for when I have to do all this through necessity rather than by choice. Maybe I have finally grown up after all.