What am I like?

I've been thinking about whether fatherhood has changed me at all. It's certainly changed my lifestyle somewhat - I now look upon an evening out with the sort of fevered anticipation normally associated with small children on Christmas Eve.

Has it made me feel more mature? Yes, probably. I take my responsibilities to the nipper seriously, and my desire to be an adequate parent overwhelms all others. I think perhaps it's made me a bit more human as well. I've never 'done' people particularly well in the past, and have sometimes felt that being completely alone on a desert island would be preferable to having to be sociable. But now I can just sit and watch the nipper sleeping and be endlessly fascinated by every tiny movement, shiver or twitch, and I think that this basic human interest is permeating into my dealings with the outside world too.

The need to constantly communicate with him is also a bit of a change for someone who often prefers complete silence, although of course it will be better when his responses develop from cries, squeaks and grunts....

And we haven't even found the precision organisation required to do anything from a family visit to buying a newspaper particularly challenging - neither myself nor the missus are exactly noted for our spontaneity, we're both devoted planners anyway an neither of us particularly like surprises.

All in all it's basically a new life, much like the old life only without the beer.