Dad's Daily Writing: the Best Bits
Oct 5, 2026 · 9 min · 4 segments
I write a daily blog. Every day. It's at www.threeflats.wordpress.com if you don't believe me. Every week, I choose the best two daily entries and record them…
If yesterday was wonderful, today was magical.
It started with a return trip to the secondhand market.
Well, actually, it started with a morning visit to Waitrose because my son and his partner were still soundly asleep.
As well as luxury items such as the Saturday paper and bread and meat for lunch, we also bought beer for tonight, having remembered that they don't drink wine, and a box of cereal.
I forgot that my son measures his portions by filling up the bowl, whereas I count out three spoonfuls.
This is why he managed to finish the cereal yesterday, and to our shame, we didn't have another box.
The fact that he then didn't finish his self-served portion is, to me, utterly hilarious, particularly as today we made a point of reading out the portion sizes on the new box.
Even then, he judged a portion by eye, which I confirmed to be 150% of the recommended size, having intervened and weighed it.
I think the moral victory remains mine.
Anyway, we returned to the secondhand market because I thought I saw not a pudding tat, but a cup and saucer that matched Mom's second-best china, which I haven't touched in the five years since I accidentally broke a cup, having warned my two younger sons of the grave consequences should they commit such a heinous crime.
I mentioned this in passing, but my son's partner almost squealed in delight at the thought of a return visit, so in the end, all four of us went.
As it turned out, the cup was .5 centimeters shorter than the rest of the cups, and yes, I did take a tape measure.
However, I took the opportunity to buy a second holiday cup and saucer as an emergency replacement.
There was a pair of them yesterday, but unusually for me, I showed a certain level of restraint and only bought one.
My son and his partner then declared that they intended to go into work and to go bird watching at the same time and gently insisted that I join them, much to my surprise.
This resulted in a wonderful two-hour coastal walk that reminded me yet again that I don't make as much of the local environment as I should.
Reference my staycation a few weeks ago when I rediscovered the delight of a walk along the cliffs at low tide.
This wonderful time seemed to imbue me with a sort of holiday spirit, which may explain that when we got back, I opened a special bottle of Gavi and sat at the top of the garden with a book, having invited everyone to join me.
My son and mother accepted.
My son's partner decided to spend the time applying for a job.
To be fair, neither my son nor his partner are fans of wine, so perhaps not surprising.
This was perhaps the highlight of the last couple of days, sitting in silence with a book, a glass of wine, and a pipe with my son and my mom sitting on either side doing the same thing.
Well, though, to be fair, neither had a pipe, and he was drinking beer, not wine, but you get the idea.
After tea and the family Zoom, they went for a walk and apparently ended up taking part in a pub quiz.
If yesterday was wonderful, today was magical.
It started with a return trip to the secondhand market.
Well, actually, it started with a morning visit to Waitrose because my son and his partner were still soundly asleep.
As well as luxury items such as the Saturday paper and bread and meat for lunch, we also bought beer for tonight, having remembered that they don't drink wine, and a box of cereal.
I forgot that my son measures his portions by filling up the bowl, whereas I count out three spoonfuls.
This is why he managed to finish the cereal yesterday, and to our shame, we didn't have another box.
The fact that he then didn't finish his self-served portion is, to me, utterly hilarious, particularly as today we made a point of reading out the portion sizes on the new box.
Even then, he judged a portion by eye, which I confirmed to be 150% of the recommended size, having intervened and weighed it.
I think the moral victory remains mine.
Anyway, we returned to the secondhand market because I thought I saw not a pudding tat, but a cup and saucer that matched Mom's second-best china, which I haven't touched in the five years since I accidentally broke a cup, having warned my two younger sons of the grave consequences should they commit such a heinous crime.
I mentioned this in passing, but my son's partner almost squealed in delight at the thought of a return visit, so in the end, all four of us went.
As it turned out, the cup was .5 centimeters shorter than the rest of the cups, and yes, I did take a tape measure.
However, I took the opportunity to buy a second holiday cup and saucer as an emergency replacement.
There was a pair of them yesterday, but unusually for me, I showed a certain level of restraint and only bought one.
My son and his partner then declared that they intended to go into work and to go bird watching at the same time and gently insisted that I join them, much to my surprise.
This resulted in a wonderful two-hour coastal walk that reminded me yet again that I don't make as much of the local environment as I should.
Reference my staycation a few weeks ago when I rediscovered the delight of a walk along the cliffs at low tide.
This wonderful time seemed to imbue me with a sort of holiday spirit, which may explain that when we got back, I opened a special bottle of Gavi and sat at the top of the garden with a book, having invited everyone to join me.
My son and mother accepted.
My son's partner decided to spend the time applying for a job.
To be fair, neither my son nor his partner are fans of wine, so perhaps not surprising.
This was perhaps the highlight of the last couple of days, sitting in silence with a book, a glass of wine, and a pipe with my son and my mom sitting on either side doing the same thing.
Well, though, to be fair, neither had a pipe, and he was drinking beer, not wine, but you get the idea.
After tea and the family Zoom, they went for a walk and apparently ended up taking part in a pub quiz.
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