Financial & Travel Musings

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In some ways it’s depressing how cookie-cutter the list of gifts arriving for a new baby seem to be. Although it’s not quite so bad as the wedding present toaster collection that many people seem to end up with, the duplication is massive and particularly so when it’s not your first baby as you’ll already have most of the common items left over from the first time around.

However, it doesn’t need to be like that as there are quite a number of websites around these days offering unique baby gifts which offer you a selection much, much wider than that which you’re likely to come across in your typical baby shop. Definitely worth looking at if you’d like to make your gift that little bit more memorable than the rest.

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When you’ve a new arrival, particularly when it’s your first, you can pretty much take it for granted that you’ll find heaps of crib bedding being offered from all your relatives.

Much as you may think this is a very welcome assistance at what’s generally a pretty expensive time, don’t forget that much of what’s on offer will be anything up to a couple of generations old and therefore can often fall a long way short of current safety standards. For example, you’ll rarely come across anti-allergic pillows and mattresses more than 10 or 15 years old. Likewise, there are less noticeable aspects such as the distance between the bars on the cot.

So, much as it might sound cute and traditional to use your granny’s cot for your new baby, do take account of the safety aspects.

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My Dad died on August 24th, suddenly and unexpectedly aged 81.

Frankly, I’d always thought that I’d have some last words to say to him before he went. In fact, I was sure that there would be something or other that I’d have left unsaid. Yet, now that the time has come in fact I find that I can’t think of anything that I should have said which seems a little odd to be honest. How come? Well, we’ve always spoke over the years and if anything probably that little bit more in the past few. So, he knew broadly what I’d be doing in the years to come (or at least as much as I know myself). He knew that Mum, me and his grandchildren loved him and that he’d be missed when he went.

Actually, that being missed bit is a little odd at the moment. I find that I’m not missing him for me but rather for his grandchildren. He’d had a full life of being Daddy to me but, sadly, only got to be Granda for just over six years. I know that he’d never have lived to see them graduating from university but it’s nice to know that he was able to be there for James’ first day at school and he’d expect nothing less than that he would one day be graduating in whatever subject interested him at that time. Actually, that’s not quite true because, as with me, he only ever wanted them to do whatever they wanted to do in terms of education; he felt his job was to provide whatever resources that were necessary to enable me to achieve my objectives.

As with my Nanny almost 20 years back, I’ve very much made a point of not considering him as dead but rather as living somewhere that we never quite manage to get around to visiting. I’m sure that’s a totally crap way of dealing with it in terms of closure but it’s worked really well for me with both my Nanny and my Dad’s brother John. I know that some people feel the need to see an actual dead body to say goodbye to but I much prefer to maintain my little illusion and therefore anyone expecting an open coffin was disappointed.

Anyway, whilst I didn’t have the opportunity to say any last words before he left us, I can’t think of anything that I needed to say to him. Is that strange?

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