We start this week with me and Ross singing to our baby’s together. (Which is much better than how it ends.)
Sure, my child is 18 months now. But he’s so little he still feels like a baby. Maybe there is something in the youngest being treated like a baby for longer? We just can’t let go!
Ross’s song is much less appropriate than my choice: ‘The Wheel’s on the Bus’. It didn’t go unnoticed by my wife that, as I struggled to cope with our first child, I became obsessed with songs about parenthood. ‘Cats in the Cradle’, ‘Mother’ by Pink Floyd. ‘Baby Got Back’. As if they might provide me with a roadmap to getting through it.
Funnily enough, Ross has picked the third song today. Garnering baby Emma’s first laugh! Pfft. My child was laughing a year ago… Catch up Ross.
He gets in a bit of trouble when Rachel catch’s him singing it. But I don’t see the harm. At that age it doesn’t matter! We’ve only recently started being more careful with what we play around our children. I was gutted to have to remove one of my favourite Christmas songs from my playlist this year.
Warning: Contains very NSFW language, and very Australian humour.
Sure, my child is 18 months now. But he’s so little he still feels like a baby. Maybe there is something in the youngest being treated like a baby for longer? We just can’t let go!
Ross’s song is much less appropriate than my choice: ‘The Wheel’s on the Bus’. It didn’t go unnoticed by my wife that, as I struggled to cope with our first child, I became obsessed with songs about parenthood. ‘Cats in the Cradle’, ‘Mother’ by Pink Floyd. ‘Baby Got Back’. As if they might provide me with a roadmap to getting through it.
Funnily enough, Ross has picked the third song today. Garnering baby Emma’s first laugh! Pfft. My child was laughing a year ago… Catch up Ross.
He gets in a bit of trouble when Rachel catch’s him singing it. But I don’t see the harm. At that age it doesn’t matter! We’ve only recently started being more careful with what we play around our children. I was gutted to have to remove one of my favourite Christmas songs from my playlist this year.
Warning: Contains very NSFW language, and very Australian humour.
Baby Got Back aside, Rachel is glad to hear about Emma’s first laugh, and desperate to repeat it. Those moments are all so special, and must have felt much more fleeting in the days before we could film every little thing.
Joey, who is somehow even stupider than last week (only just learning that we eat birds!), has come into a bit of money. Well, not literally come into some money. Though I wouldn’t put it past him…
He’s looking to buy some Real Estate and him and Chandler go to check out Richard’s old place. Yes, THAT Richard. The agent mistakes them for a couple and this gives Chandler a nice opportunity to try and one up Ross’s homophobia from last week.
But things take a darker turn when they find a tape with Monica’s name on it.
Joey, who is somehow even stupider than last week (only just learning that we eat birds!), has come into a bit of money. Well, not literally come into some money. Though I wouldn’t put it past him…
He’s looking to buy some Real Estate and him and Chandler go to check out Richard’s old place. Yes, THAT Richard. The agent mistakes them for a couple and this gives Chandler a nice opportunity to try and one up Ross’s homophobia from last week.
But things take a darker turn when they find a tape with Monica’s name on it.
A SEX TAPE!?
Ah, the days before we could film every little moment…
Meanwhile, Phoebe is meeting Paul Rudd’s parents for the first time. Gosh they’re moving fast! David the Science Guy probably even hasn’t wiped off her lipstick yet.
She arrives all dolled up and hears the words every woman wants to hear “you look like my mum”. Oh Paul. For you I’d wear anything.
Phoebe tries a little too hard to make a good impression after finding out Paul Rudd’s parents are rich. Of COURSE they’re rich. He’s a musician.
She gets all insecure and posh’s up her voice. Before coming clean and telling a story about a pimp spitting in her mouth. It’s hard to say if this awkwardness is a result of her upbringing, or more evidence of some sort of undiagnosed neuro-divergence. But even by her standards she really pushes the boat out, going as far as telling Mrs Rudd how great her son is in bed!
I just hope she doesn’t go one step further and give her a sex tape.
Back at Chondler’s they HAVE gone one step further and STOLEN THE SEX TAPE!!
Monica catch’s them as they start watching it, and is horrified… until they find it’s been taped over. Wait. Isn’t this still bad??! Who cares if Richard’s kept it? Chandler and Joey watching it without her consent is way worse!
Back at the Rudd’s, things are going from bad to worse. Also, why are the parent’s friends there for such a big moment? Not especially fair on Phoebe.
Desperate to turn things around she sells out her principles and tucks into some veal for Paul Rudd. Which, as expressions of love go, is actually pretty sweet! Until she runs off to throw up. Wow this is the worst first meeting of parents ever. (Or should that be first meating?)
Thankfully it pays off! Paul Rudd declares his love for her for the first time, and they storm off after admitting she threw-up in the closet. This is all great that they love each other. But aren’t they going to have to see the parents again?? Not especially good long term planning there…
Real Live Sitcom Moment:
Once again, against my will, we’ve made our yearly trip to Winter “Wonderland”. To make things even better, the whole time it pissed it down.
But this did make the ice slide pretty sweet! I imagine. I was only able to watch with a very grumpy 18 month old stuck in a buggy.
And so I watched. As a man hurtled down with his child much too fast, both flying off at the end, and getting bloody faces.
As they were wheeled off to first aid, I looked back at the top, as my precious three year old, and (slightly less precious) wife climbed on their inflatable. Completely oblivious to what had just occurred below.
So, a moment of excitement became a moment of terror as I watched through my fingers to see if our trip to Winter Wonderland was about to be cut short by a trip to A and E.
Mercifully they made it down in one piece. (And both loved it!) So I was greatly relieved. Until I remembered this meant I was going to have to spend the rest of my day at Winter Wonderland.
Damn.
“The One With Depression”
Though I’ve tried to keep things light, I’ve made no secret of my struggles with mental health. And complicated relationship with alcohol.
I can’t remember if I’ve shared my brief history of more extreme substances. The main reason I can’t remember, probably, being all the drugs and alcohol. This included a short (but thorough) Ketamine phase, when it was all the rage at Uni. Before all the horror stories started emerging of serious bladder/kidney damage.
Now, I am devastated to hear it was a contributing factor in Matthew Perry’s death.
One of the most widely shared sentiments following his death has been his pride in how many addicts he himself helped. Although I don’t want to speculate on his final moments, it is frustrating there will now be lingering questions over the extent to which it was accidental.
One of the hardest things when dealing with depression is the sense of a loss of hope. And every time we lose someone in this way it’s hard for it not to feed into our hopes and fears for ourselves.
What hope is there when one of the funniest men alive ends this way?
But it wasn’t his responsibility to serve as an example to others. I can only hope he didn’t feel that pressure at the end. Nor feel that he was letting the many people he helped down, whatever his final actions were.
Ah, the days before we could film every little moment…
Meanwhile, Phoebe is meeting Paul Rudd’s parents for the first time. Gosh they’re moving fast! David the Science Guy probably even hasn’t wiped off her lipstick yet.
She arrives all dolled up and hears the words every woman wants to hear “you look like my mum”. Oh Paul. For you I’d wear anything.
Phoebe tries a little too hard to make a good impression after finding out Paul Rudd’s parents are rich. Of COURSE they’re rich. He’s a musician.
She gets all insecure and posh’s up her voice. Before coming clean and telling a story about a pimp spitting in her mouth. It’s hard to say if this awkwardness is a result of her upbringing, or more evidence of some sort of undiagnosed neuro-divergence. But even by her standards she really pushes the boat out, going as far as telling Mrs Rudd how great her son is in bed!
I just hope she doesn’t go one step further and give her a sex tape.
Back at Chondler’s they HAVE gone one step further and STOLEN THE SEX TAPE!!
Monica catch’s them as they start watching it, and is horrified… until they find it’s been taped over. Wait. Isn’t this still bad??! Who cares if Richard’s kept it? Chandler and Joey watching it without her consent is way worse!
Back at the Rudd’s, things are going from bad to worse. Also, why are the parent’s friends there for such a big moment? Not especially fair on Phoebe.
Desperate to turn things around she sells out her principles and tucks into some veal for Paul Rudd. Which, as expressions of love go, is actually pretty sweet! Until she runs off to throw up. Wow this is the worst first meeting of parents ever. (Or should that be first meating?)
Thankfully it pays off! Paul Rudd declares his love for her for the first time, and they storm off after admitting she threw-up in the closet. This is all great that they love each other. But aren’t they going to have to see the parents again?? Not especially good long term planning there…
Real Live Sitcom Moment:
Once again, against my will, we’ve made our yearly trip to Winter “Wonderland”. To make things even better, the whole time it pissed it down.
But this did make the ice slide pretty sweet! I imagine. I was only able to watch with a very grumpy 18 month old stuck in a buggy.
And so I watched. As a man hurtled down with his child much too fast, both flying off at the end, and getting bloody faces.
As they were wheeled off to first aid, I looked back at the top, as my precious three year old, and (slightly less precious) wife climbed on their inflatable. Completely oblivious to what had just occurred below.
So, a moment of excitement became a moment of terror as I watched through my fingers to see if our trip to Winter Wonderland was about to be cut short by a trip to A and E.
Mercifully they made it down in one piece. (And both loved it!) So I was greatly relieved. Until I remembered this meant I was going to have to spend the rest of my day at Winter Wonderland.
Damn.
“The One With Depression”
Though I’ve tried to keep things light, I’ve made no secret of my struggles with mental health. And complicated relationship with alcohol.
I can’t remember if I’ve shared my brief history of more extreme substances. The main reason I can’t remember, probably, being all the drugs and alcohol. This included a short (but thorough) Ketamine phase, when it was all the rage at Uni. Before all the horror stories started emerging of serious bladder/kidney damage.
Now, I am devastated to hear it was a contributing factor in Matthew Perry’s death.
One of the most widely shared sentiments following his death has been his pride in how many addicts he himself helped. Although I don’t want to speculate on his final moments, it is frustrating there will now be lingering questions over the extent to which it was accidental.
One of the hardest things when dealing with depression is the sense of a loss of hope. And every time we lose someone in this way it’s hard for it not to feed into our hopes and fears for ourselves.
What hope is there when one of the funniest men alive ends this way?
But it wasn’t his responsibility to serve as an example to others. I can only hope he didn’t feel that pressure at the end. Nor feel that he was letting the many people he helped down, whatever his final actions were.
