A Boy And His Crazes

When we are children we all want the new in thing and even when we are adults we may yearn for the latest crazes. Fads come and go and may come again. They may even stop being fads and become part of everyday life.

Tom and all the children he knows are no exception to wanting to take part in these crazes. In the last year or so I have really noticed Tom wanting to take part. Some of which he was more successful at. I remember several years ago Tom's elder cousin, Leah, being crazy about loom bands and what she could make with them, she was even selling them at school at one point. Tom noticed how this occupied Leah and wanted to take part. She was a master at it. Tom and his helper, me, where most definitely not. Great idea but hard work for our not so nimble fingers.

When Tom discovered Minecraft I knew he had discovered a craze that he would be good at. He is still to this day. At around the same time Tom discovered trading cards. We had Starwars,Skylanders, Match Attax football and rugby cards to name just some. As soon as a kid starts collecting this type of thing they become obsessed. 

Then we had the Pokemon craze. BOOM!!! This currently rules Tom's life. It started with Pokemon Go. It then progressed onto trading cards, limited edition trading cards, Pokemon DVDs and further Pokemon video games. He even sports some Pokemon clothing. A while ago Minecraft was his life and now it is Pokemon for sure.

There is one exception to Pokemon at present. It is the nutty invention that is the fidget spinner. Strange phenomena, but if it catches on then who am I to judge.

The great thing about Tom is that even though he has found new fads there is still space in his heart for many of the old ones. You gotta love him for his enthusiasm on such things.

A Boy And His Idol - DanTDM

We all have heroes, people we look up to and idols. This is a fact. As we get older we may not react as excited or our idols may change over time. This past twelve months Tom has been lucky enough to meet/see some of his.

Late last year we went to a Sci-Fi convention and had the luck to meet Doctor Who 5, Peter Davidson, who also is the real life father in law David Tennant, Doctor Who 9. Tom was impressed but not as much as me. In actual fact I think I freaked Mr Davidson out a bit. Will have to develop my composure.

We then met Stephen Calcutt who is an actor and has been in quite a lot . He was stand in as Darth Vader on many of the long shots. Tom and I were in awe of him. He was polite and gave Tom some great advice. At the end Tom shook his hand and walked away whispering,"I shook Darth Vader's hand." He loved it.

Tom looked up to these two fellas and to tell the truth I was probably more in awe of them than Tom. There are a few people Tom has grown to idolise, people Tom would like to be like in his mind.  In the past it was through a specific talent, singing, dancing, acting or being a comedian for example. As a fan we would have got our fix through TV, films, shows or magazines. Unlike when I was a kid, now there are extra avenues for people to get into your life. Since the advent of the internet you can now become famous for being you or doing things you like in addition to the old routes.

Tom has been a big fan of Minecraft and video games for sometime now and he has also been a fan of the people that play them for a living on Youtube. There are many Youtube vloggers that specialise in all manner of things. The list is endless. Two of the biggest vloggers in Tom's favoured category are Stampylonghead and DanTDM (The Diamond Minecart). These two fellas play these games but also vlog about their lives. Tom sits there engrossed now as if he was watching a major movie. This past weekend Rachel and myself took him to see the DanTDM show on tour in Ipswich.

I cannot say much about it as he has asked us not to, in order to keep it a surprise for future audiences. What I can say is that he interacted with the audience and had the audience interact with him on stage throughout, almost like panto with technology added and it worked well. Rachel and I actually really enjoyed the show. As did all the kids. My ears were literally hurting by the end of it, it was that noisy, but great fun. To top the show Dan came to the stage door and gave high 5s to all the kids there. He then took a photo for his Facebook page. I can honestly say he seems like a great young fella.

As you can imagine Tom was thrilled throughout and felt ecstatic by the end of it. Glad you had a great time Tom,you deserve it!!!

Daily routine Autumn 2015.

So this is it, the first post in the blog "A boy and his dad".

Although as adults we wake a bit weary but know we have to get up, so do so begrudgingly, I am amazed how kids wake up with such energy and enthusiasm. Our Tom is no exception and the routine is the same each day:

6:45 to 7:00 wake up and straight into our bedroom saying ".... I am ready for breakfast."
"Ok, Tom, go downstairs and let Daisy (our pooch) out, I will be down in a minute." So he goes and does this little job, turns the TV on and sits waiting patiently. He does all this by the time I get down to do his breakfast. As I prepare his breakfast I hear the TV and without even asking I know what he is watching. That is Minecraft on Youtube.

For quite a long time now Tom has been a big fan of Youtube. He has watched anything from musicals to retro cartoons to how to videos. At the mo it is either EvanTube or one of his Minecraft mentors. These are Stampylongnose, Dandtm or Sqaishey. These are his breakfast time heroes.

This routine Tom loves and because he loves it I love it, I love the fact it makes him happy.