Comments on: The red tape of parenthood (aka “I’m drowning, not waving”)

By: Brit' Gal Sarah

Brit' Gal Sarah — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:01:07 +0000

Awwww I’m so far behind, but CONGRATS on Jr. she’s a peach! What an interesting and challenging 14 days you had lol! BTW you should try having your Lowes experience and then add in living a 200 mile round trip from the bloody store – not good, not good at all!

By: Trixie Trouble

Trixie Trouble — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:55:05 +0000

I hope you didn’t answer literally/honestly did you?

I do so love messing up national statistics.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:58:49 +0000

It seems like most of these questions should be under a section called “Optional (answer only if you are now currently bored and want to enter your family’s entire ancestral and mental health history for entertainment purposes”.

By: Iota

Iota — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:01:12 +0000

It’s very precise, isn’t it? I mean, how many of us could answer the “then” one? That would only apply to those people who had decided to start trying to conceive, and had managed to do so immediately. If it took a month or two, you’d tick the “wanted to be pregnant sooner” box. It’s very high pressure New York City stuff, isn’t it?

Elsewhere, in more relaxed areas of the country, there is probably a box for “I wanted to be pregnant sooner or later”.

By: Brooklyn

Brooklyn — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:49:28 +0000

I am certain that we didn’t face that when our daughter was born. But that was so long ago, I vaguely recall seeing Mastodon herds when we took our daughter home from the hospital.

But if you think the form you filled out is bad, to paraphrase Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” I am shuddering at the thought of having to fill out the financial aid form for college applicants early in 2010. My current hypothesis is that they make completing that form so horrible you remain gobsmacked and insensible to pain when they tell you the pittance your child is getting a couple of months later.

By: Toni

Toni — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:44:45 +0000

Another delightfully humourous post Dylan. Oh how simple life in New Zealand seems! Keep up the great work – both fathering and blogging! T x

By: Limey

Limey — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:11:32 +0000

Sounds completely ridiculous and typically American in its bureaucracy! Are you going to get your daughter dual citizenship? That could be a whole other drama!

Congratulations on becoming a daddy! Very exciting!

By: Stella Jones

Stella Jones — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:10:07 +0000

Congratulations Dylan! I’m so glad you put British on the form. I suppose your daughter is American though, being born there?
I read your words carefully. I find the health system over there to be much the same. When I was over there in the spring, I got a sore eye. You wouldn’t believe the rigmarole I went through with it. Over here, the doctor would have looked at it and said, ‘yes, you have a sore eye, here’s some eye drops’ and off I would go. Our doctors seem to know when the situation is serious but over there, for fear of being sued, I suppose, they go to extraordinary lengths to make you better.
ps check out this website next time you want a British laugh: http://www.commutercast.co.uk
Blessings, Star

By: Almost American

Almost American — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:45:08 +0000

Holy Cow! I’m very glad I don’t live in NYC – nobody asked stupid questions like that for my kids’ birth certificates! (The British Embassy got its knickers in a twist that the birth certificate wasn’t issued at the hospital on the day of delivery, but they got over it after I wrote them a snarky letter.)

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:46:19 +0000

Congrats on your new daughter. Over the years, I have found that many institutions, while they ask for information on forms, rarely read it. For example, I have been giving golf as my answer for religion since I was in my twenties (a long, long time ago.) Politics, they would demand and I would answer office. No one ever came to me questioning my answers. How’s the weight now?