For the past few months, while I have been wandering the countryside and pondering the mysteries of badgers, my wife has been quietly and patiently getting on with something much more important.
At 4.00am this morning our first child was born. I’d like to introduce Scarlett Elizabeth to the world. She’s beautiful. I simply cannot express how happy I am, and how proud I am of my wife.
So I’m now a dad! Blimey. It’s either time for me to grow up or an excuse to act like a kid again. To my wife’s amused horror I’ve started searching the internet for camouflage baby slings. I’m looking forward to taking a few gentle strolls around the countryside with my daughter.
In the meantime, things may go a bit quiet on here for a little while. At least now you know the reason why.
Right, time to get some sleep while I have the chance…
Tales from the Wood - The Diary of a Badger Watching Man 
BWM
Congratulations and may your sleep not be interupted too much!
Not quite in the same league, but last night I took my 17 year old son badgerwatching for the first time. We had badgers really close and he really enjoyed it. Something for you to look forward to in the future…
Good Luck
Mark
CONGRATULATIONS !!
Thanks, both of you. I hope my daughter grows up interested in wildlife and the outdoors. I’ll certainly be introducing her to the gentler aspects fairly soon.
Congratulations to you both. It’s truly an amazing thing, isn’t it?
I hope the coming months bring you at least a little sleep. It does get better!
Well done – you’ll make a great dad!
Congratulations Badgerman. At least you’re familiar with keeping odd hours and not adhering to standard routines – great training for your new experience.
Enjoy – they grow up so quickly.
John
Congratulations Mr&Mrs Badgerman!
Scarlet is gorgeous!
I am sure she will grow up to love the wild, with you as her guide.
Sharing nature with children is wonderfully rewarding and is one of the best things a parent can do for their child. Bestowing a love of nature is a wonderful gift and something that will bring her great joy for her entire life.
Best wishes to you and your clan!
Josie
Congratulations to you both. Great timing too as the Watching season and its unearthly hours winds down. Now you will be watching a Cub of your own. If you do get to take a sit or two you will have a valid excuse to nap at your post.
If you want Baby Camo gear just check out Cabelas.com, they have all kinds of good stuff, but unless she is a really quiet baby I would hold off for a few years!
I have had mates who pushed their kids into enjoying the natural world only to have the opposite effect. Gentle nudges to make their own personal discoveries is much more fruitful.
Just time spent with you in that enviroment will do the trick.
Anyway, i’m chuffed for you mate.
Best to you all,
G
Well done Badger folks! A mini-badger for you… she’s beautiful.
Best of luck – remember to ask friends and family to do things for you, like make food and clean and such… that way you can get more time to yourselves. Important lesson I learned.
Cheers,
Mungo
Thanks to everyone for all your good wishes – I’m touched. I have indeed got a cub of my own to look after. And thanks for the tip Mungo – I’m following in your footsteps here, so to speak, so all advice is welcome.
Slightly embarrassingly, I spelt her name wrong on the post. It should be Scarlett, with two ‘t’s. Oops. I’ll have to quietly edit the post and hope no-one notices…
I have also just bought the long-threatened camouflage baby sling. Scarlett is too young for ‘proper’ badger watching by a good few years yet, but there’s no reason why she can’t come out with me in the meantime. They say that the best way to calm a baby is often to take her for a drive in the car. I don’t see why a quiet stroll through the fields shouldn’t work just as well.
I think you’ve spelt Scarlett wrong (note the two T’s). Oh, you’ve corrected it!
Well done BM and Mrs BM. Welcome to the world, Scarlett. It’s not as bad as everyone says.
I’m sorry, I can’t get visions of maternity chambers and the collecting of new bedding out of my mind.
Hope you have a wonderful experience. The first 18 years are the worse. Take it from Grandad Pablo.
Best wishes.
Pablo.
Congratulations Scarlett Elizabeth! You have a dad who can tell you great bedtime stories about badgers and other beautiful creatures. And he will take you out to see them. I’m sure you will enjoy that very much 😉
Will you also congratulate your mum and dad from me?
Thanks Pablo – the irony is that both Mrs BM and I have both had to live with ‘incorrect’ names on our birth certificates. Better make sure that I get this one right!
And my wife did have a spell of nesting behaviour before the birth. Thankfully it was just clearing up my junk and not bringing bundles of dried grass into the house…
Thanks very much Bianca. Bedtime stories about badgers – now that’s a great idea! Welcome, by the way. It’s great to see that Tales from the Wood is developing an international readership!