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Gareth Ellis
- Feb 7, 2022
- 3 min
Potty Training is Pants
Potty training is shit. Literally. OK, it’s not that bad, but it’s still pretty frustrating at times. For the record, Rupert is only about two or three weeks into ‘proper training’ but so far he’s doing really well with the concept and seems to be embracing it as part of being a ‘big boy.’ We’ve had some successes, but we’ve also had some accidents along the way – but that’s totally to be expected. Before Christmas, we took a bit of a half-hearted approach to potty training.
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Gareth Ellis
- Jan 14, 2022
- 2 min
The Taboo Of The Stay at Home Dad
I’ve been a Daddy for almost four years now. I know what you’re thinking, Rupert’s only three, how can you have been a Daddy for four? Well, I counted myself as one the moment Jess told me we were going to be having him. There are some who may not agree. Who think that you’re not a parent until the baby arrives, or the baby/child arrives in their home, but I chose to view it differently. For the most part I love being a Dad. I love getting out and about with the kids and taki
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Gareth Ellis
- Jan 11, 2022
- 2 min
Independence Days, Sometimes
I love my kids. They’re funny, they’re sweet and although I may be biased, they’re bloody gorgeous as well. But bugger me they can be a bit full on at times. Currently, Rupert wants to do everything for himself – everything but use a potty that is, but that’s another matter. Now, I know what you’re thinking, a bit of independence is great, children should learn to do things for themselves, and yes I’m all for that. Now, imagine independence while picturing a three-year-old po
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Gareth Ellis
- Dec 6, 2021
- 3 min
The Struggle is Real
I’ve been struggling. I’ve found it tough looking after the kids full time for quite a few reasons, which I’ll go into in a second. It was one of those things that crept up on me, then suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. I was low, I was miserable, and I pushed people away, stupidly thinking I could get through it and things would get easier. They didn’t. I was naïve. I thought that looking after Rupert and Emilia would be easy. I mean, they’re my kids, how hard could it be
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Gareth Ellis
- May 28, 2021
- 3 min
Planning a 1st birthday party
I’m in a reflective mood today. I’m very much still trying to get my head around the fact that we have a one-year-old and a two-year-old, after Emi’s birthday – which is incredibly just over two weeks ago. I wanted to recap that day a little bit and also give some advice to anyone who may be planning their own little one’s first birthday party. First of all, let me make it clear, there is absolutely no ‘need’ for a party for a little one’s first birthday, none at all. For us
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Gareth Ellis
- May 14, 2021
- 4 min
Mental Health Awareness Week
I am struggling. It hurts me to say it, to admit it, but I’m having a hard time right now. I’m putting on a face a lot of the time but behind closed doors the bad days are outweighing the good. Jess has gone back to work and I’m full-time Daddy, something I thought would be a lot easier and much less exhausting. However, as it’s mental health awareness week I thought I would share not only my true feelings, but a little about my journey as well. In the past I’ve struggled wit
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Gareth Ellis
- Jan 1, 2021
- 6 min
Review of the Year: 2020
This year has been a strange one. Dominated strongly by one thing, we’ve seen the best and worst of the human spirit as people battled through tiers and heartbreak with laughter and strength. It was a year where we welcomed our beautiful daughter, Emilia, to our family and she made us feel complete, yet we weren’t allowed to meet up with family so they could share in our joy. Here’s a rundown of life in the Ellis household in 2020. January: Rupert walked for the first time ou
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Gareth Ellis
- Dec 18, 2020
- 2 min
Book Review: There’s Two of Us Now
Jess and I love reading to our children. Rupert has a story or two before he goes down for a nap, and two more (sometimes the same two) when it’s time to sleep for the night. With Emilia it’s hard to hold her concentration for that long but still, you’re never too young to be read to. Our beautiful boy, Rupert, arrived in November 2018 and when his sister, Emilia, arrived in May of this year we wondered how he would not only take to being a big brother but how he would adapt
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Gareth Ellis
- Oct 20, 2020
- 3 min
Review: Pumpkin Picking at The Patch MK
This weekend was a first for the Ellis family – as it was the first time any of us had gone pumpkin picking. Rupert is a massive fan of getting out and about, Emilia is always beautifully behaved wherever we go and Jess and I just like spending time together – so it seemed perfect. Let me first start out by telling you a little bit about the premise of the day in case you’re thinking of heading there yourself. The Patch is a working farm area, Mount Mill Farm to be exact, bas
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Gareth Ellis
- Sep 23, 2020
- 4 min
Our visit to Wimpole Estate
Going out as a four is a military operation. We often get as much prepared the night before as we can, so we can literally throw it all in the car and then get going. I must admit though that doesn’t always happen. This weekend Jess, Rupert, Emilia and I visited the Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire. It’s the first weekend we’ve had to ourselves in absolute ages and in case anyone was thinking about going I wanted to give you a bit of a review before you do. Before you even ge
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Gareth Ellis
- May 31, 2020
- 2 min
Pandemic Positives: Staying Social
So, the news hit recently that people will be able to meet up in groups of six in gardens or outside spaces as of tomorrow. This is huge news for a lot of people who have been dying to meet up with friends and family and enjoy the sunshine together, while still obeying the government rules surrounding coronavirus. For me, I’ve been meeting up with friends, family, and work colleagues on a regular basis – through the magic of both Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and video calling. Team
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Gareth Ellis
- May 25, 2020
- 3 min
No, Rupert, No! Repeat
Since Emilia has arrived Rupert has been amazing. He beams when he sees her, he lays his head on her chest when he can, and he hasn’t had any regression in sleep (fingers crossed.) However, Emilia or not, there’s one thing I’m struggling with as Rupert has hit the 18-month milestone and that’s discipline – I’m not sure what method is going to work. At the moment he doesn’t seem to understand no, he’s too young to stay on any naughty step and there’s no way I’m laying a finger
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Gareth Ellis
- May 18, 2020
- 3 min
Two Under Two: Expectation v Reality
We have officially had two children for six days now, and I have to say it’s begun with mixed results – albeit most of them positive. Some of them are positive because of the baby Emilia has been so far, but a lot of them have been good because I expected them to be much worse. So, I wanted to run through a few of my expectations v reality moments that we’ve experienced thus far. Although I first want to caveat it with the explanation that these are personal to me and that th
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Gareth Ellis
- May 13, 2020
- 4 min
Our family is complete!
At 8.11am yesterday my life became complete as our baby made their arrival – just two days early. After a comparatively short labour, nine hours compared to 54, suddenly we had our baby and our little family was complete. Jess felt the first pangs of labour at 11pm on Monday (the 11th) but decided not to wake me until she couldn’t wait anymore, around 5am. So we did the usual, we timed the contractions and they were just under 10 minutes apart, we had ages, or so we thought.
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Gareth Ellis
- May 11, 2020
- 2 min
Double the babies, double the love
We’re literally just a handful of days before we potentially meet our new little prince or princess, and now I’m starting to worry. But these are different from the worries I had before Rupert was born. Then it was a fear of the unknown, scared that life was about to change beyond belief and terrified about whether I could be a good Dad. Days before Rupert was born I even questioned my own mortality – scared that one day I would leave him. However, this time around I’ve been
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Gareth Ellis
- May 7, 2020
- 3 min
No nod to the Dad Bod
I love almost everything associated with being a Dad, yet there’s one I just can’t bear to put my name to – the ‘Dad Bod.’ Everything else I naturally either assumed when that pregnancy test was positive for the first time, or I already did. For example, I’ve been telling Dad jokes for the best part of 20 years. My humour can be pretty dark at times, childish a LOT of the time, but is also full of cheesy ‘jokes’ that would make even my own Dad cringe. Something else I’ve alwa
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Gareth Ellis
- May 4, 2020
- 2 min
Tidy v Clean
When it comes to owning a home, you want it to be clean and tidy. When you add in a child you’ll take it just being clean. J is a stickler for keeping the house tidy. She’ll wash and wipe up and clean the kitchen sides after every single meal, whereas I prefer (most days) to just do the bare minimum and then have a proper clean up at the end of the day. However, since having Rupert I’ve certainly come around to Jess’ way of thinking and I want to keep the house both clean and
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Gareth Ellis
- Mar 28, 2020
- 3 min
Isolation Frustration
Just recently Coronavirus has kept people (well most people) locked up in their homes to help slow, and hopefully stop, the spread of the virus. This for many, including J and I, means that Rupert’s nursery has closed, leaving us with a 16 month at home while we try to work. *I must at first add a caveat to this that I have currently been signed off work for a couple of weeks with stress, so I am free to look after Rupert while Jess works from home – however soon I’ll be back
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Gareth Ellis
- Mar 15, 2020
- 2 min
Step Away from the Toilet Roll – Covid 19
So the Coronavirus is here and the world has hit the panic button. Every day on the news we hear talk of countries being locked down, schools being closed and businesses imploring people to work from home. The media has literally talked about it over a billion times (I feel like I have as well) and people have reacted in a host of different ways, from blasé to full on apocalyptic panic. For me I don’t see what the reason for panic is. I certainly haven’t rushed out and bought
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Gareth Ellis
- Mar 2, 2020
- 3 min
The Best Laid Plans…
This weekend was lovely. To be fair I had Monday off as well so actually, this long weekend was lovely. It was full of family time, getting outside and getting stuff done. There was no work stress, which right now seems to be at its worst, and it was so nice to feel real freedom. Over the weekend we thought we’d get out and about as the sun was shining (on the Sunday) and seeing as we’re National Trust members we’d take the short drive to Stowe. Now before I start this I shou
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