Testing Times

You may be wondering why I haven’t written a piece in over a month?  Or you may just be happy to hear from me (I hope it’s the latter).  Social media activity has been minimal for the last month; this is due to the new adventure I mentioned last time out.  All I can reveal about the new adventure is that it has been successful, I had to dedicate most of my time to prepare for it as I wanted to give it my all and have no regrets!  I promise I will stop talking in a roundabout way very soon and reveal exactly what has been going on!

Ok, so what have we been up to?  Well, some of us Sikh Dads appeared on the time to change site https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/change-makers when we partook in the recent event.  What we do is either at dinner or before we sleep we reflect on our day as a family. We each have to say three things that we have done or felt in the day. We also have to ask one question to each person. We have done this for a while now, and it’s become apart of our family routine. It’s so important we talk and communicate with each other as we can easily take each other for granted!

We were inspired to join in by Taraki, who as you know I have mentioned before.  This month’s Chai in the City open forum I had the opportunity to be their “guest speaker”  It was a big honour for me to talk amongst my brothers about areas of my life that had shaped who I am today.  I was open and honest about mental health, marriage and family.  I was overwhelmed by the response from the attendees, and we delved quite deep into many community issues and expectations in the Q and A, I certainly left the session having learnt a lot about myself and the experiences of others.

Elsewhere MK has been upping her game in preparation for her 11 plus later this year, at the moment she has one tuition session a week, but as it was half term, there was a special 11 plus mock exam available.  We discussed it with her and all agreed it would be a great way to measure where she is at?  She had never sat for so long in an actual test environment so it was a win-win situation.  She prepared for it really well, and we were both proud of her effort, she also did a lot better than expected so we all have a lot to work on with her moving forward.  Anyone in a similar situation, please do reach out, I am sure we could learn a lot from each other’s experiences as it’s not easy!

My parents held a blessing programme for us at our local place of worship (Gurdwara); this is something they have regularly done in the past, however this time we were double booked with kids kickboxing gradings.  I’m sure you have all seen on IG they were successful in their grading’s, but that meant one of us going there and one of us staying at the Gurdwara, why am I telling you all this?  The reason is I stayed at the Gurdwara with Gobind Singh on my own for around 1.5hrs, I fed him, played with him and put him to sleep all in front of the watchful eyes of the congregation.  Now I know things are improving and many dads are already taking the lead, but in our places of worship, there is still that mentality of where is the mum?  Or are you ok with him?  Shall I take him? Can you manage? All in a nice way but in the past, I may have been inclined to others to help out with kids, but not now, I have developed this belief and confidence over the last few years that I can handle most situations as a father (He says).

A special mention has to also go to Gurleen’s class teddy “Cherry Bear” who blessed us with his presence over the half term week.  Usually, it’s normally a weekend stay, but I guess we hit the jackpot, she was over the moon.  We had spoken about this for a long time as she kept on mentioning that her turn was not coming, so I asked her what she needed to do to get the opportunity to host our furry friend (other than kidnap him) yes I am joking!  She said she needed to learn to write her name, do good listening and improve on her phonics, so that’s what we did.  I went to pick her up on the Friday before half term which I don’t normally do due to work commitments.  The Teacher called her name, and I was wondering what was taking her so long,  then all of a sudden she appeared shouting “Daddy Daddy I got cherry bear” I won’t ever forget that as we both laughed so loud other parents must have been wondering what had happened, but for us it was a great achievement. Since then we have spoken to the teacher who was looking for a good home for cherry bear throughout the half term; apparently, we fitted that description!  After an action-packed week, our furry friend is now safely back in the hands of the school.

Chickenpox was going around at school and as you would have seen Gurleen came into contact with it.  It didn’t last as long as we thought but she was very brave throughout and managed it really well, we were naturally nervous of Gobind Singh catching it from her and our fears where confirmed when his face was covered in them, yes he had it really bad the poor thing is only 8 months old, he struggled to eat, sleep etc. But he continued to smile, that’s something I have learnt from my kids to have no fear, be brave and continue to smile no matter what!

Podcast oh yes we have now published two episodes of the seek parenting show the first an introduction and the second about our marriage, we have been overwhelmed by your feedback, and we are glad you are enjoying our talk about the realities of life.  We will continue to do this and can only do so with your support if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, then please do!  Oh and don’t forget all the usual subscribe, rate and comment on whatever platform you are hearing from (majority are iTunes)

Finally ending with some still or fizz?? Yes fizz free Feb was going great, it had been over 3 weeks of no fizzy sugar filled pop, there had been the odd days of cravings but I managed to stay strong that was until Sat 23rd when a late night drive to Cov from London required something that the Dr literally ordered, now I know what you are all thinking!  Yes, I can confirm it was a bottle of Dr Pepper that helped me keep awake and made sure I arrived safely at the hotel.  That was, of course, my fizz free Feb over, it was good while it lasted and I am sure I will do it again in the future, most probably when I require some still in my life but for now I will keep a bit of fizz!