As I opened my 42nd birthday presents today from my father I found he had thoughtfully included a small battery tester wrapped in silver paper. A few years ago I would have wondered what on earth had got into him. But I’m a father now, and my father obviously understands what challenges life is throwing at me now, usually with the words “Daddy fix it!”. So he’s bought me one of the most practical presents I could have hoped for. OK, so this is definitely a very clear benchmark of the stage I’m at in life, but I was really excited to open up this small parcel and find something which will get constant use here.

When my son was born I was given a lot of useful advice. As a family we were given a million and one useful presents from friends, and lent maybe 2000 baby outfits, because, as we were reminded, we can never have enough can we?

But, and here’s a big but, nobody has yet thought to give me what I now consider to be one of life’s true essentials for Dads – a full set of screwdrivers, both Phillips and regular ones. Why hasn’t anyone come up with this as the perfect gift for Dads to be solemnly presented to them within several hours of the arrival of their firstborn. Because it seems like I have a never ending set of toys which need new batteries (which can be pre-checked for energy capacity from now on – cheers Dad).

I still don’t have a full set of screwdrivers yet so I’ll no doubt be adding to them forever. So from now on when anyone asks me what I want for Christmas and birthdays I will direct them to my Amazon wishlist which will soon include a comprehensive set of screwdrivers. And sadly, if I do get them, I’ll be thrilled!

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