"On Purple Days I'm sad. I groan. I drag my tail. I walk alone."

Do you ever wake up in the morning and instantly feel like you are on the brink of tears?
Emotions are funny things and although I have a very happy life and can nearly always be seen with a big smile on my face, every now and again I have one of these 'out-of-character' days. I have no idea what causes it and definitely have no control over it. A friend informed me that it could be something to do with the new moon??? but I will put it down to just being a pretty sensitive guy.

With the 'Man Up' campaign doing its rounds at the moment, highlighting the importance of expressing our emotions as a male and encouraging men to Cry in a bid to raise awareness of male depression and suicide, it seemed like an important and relevant campaign to mention. I however have absolutely no problem shedding a tear! Put me in front of 'The Holiday', 'Serendipity' or 'Love actually' and you will see this bald, bearded man weep! like I said... sensitive!

This post isn't meant to bring anyone down though. This is actually about what I do to get myself out of this unexpected funk. When I wake up on these rare mornings and have a generally off day, I make sure that on the evening, I give myself some time to pop my headphones in and hit the streets on those amazing wheels of mine. A solo scoot in the moonlight is all I need to sort out this uncontrollable mix of emotions and whizzing about on my own, with great music can really clear my head and make me feel a lot more productive. 

Micro Scooters have changed my world in so many ways and continue to shape the time I spend with the boys. I imagine that it will be quite some time before I have one of these random emotional days again but I can be safe in the knowledge that my wheels are not to far away.

Sometimes I feel like I have the body of a man but the emotions of a child.

Do you ever have one of those days where you just feel really emotional?  I really don't know what's up with me today but I really don't feel myself. I've managed to hold it in all morning while I've been out and about with Opeie. We were driving back home from popping to see nanny Roo and I looked in the mirror to check on Opeie and he was flat out, poor thing had had a rough sleep (me too) and he was shattered. As soon as I saw him asleep I burst into tears and am still crying as I write this. I'm not feeling sad, just not myself. 

Sometimes when I get like this I think it's things from my past that I've buried deep resurfacing other times its this continuous overwhelming feeling I get from being a dad and feeling like I finally have a purpose.  To some people I may look unapproachable, shaved head, covered in tattoos/piercings but behind this rugged exterior is a very sensitive boy and for some reason today I feel at my most vulnerable. It's probably nothing, tiredness maybe or just a rage of uncontrolable emotions like the hulk. Whatever it is I'm sure it will have died down by the time Mrs M comes out of work so ill just ride it out. Not being my smiley self really throws me off balance but I guess I can't be the sunshine kid all the time.

"Leave no stone unturned."

Our main objective when going to the park two days ago was to find a big bag of rocks for some craft fun, Today was a bit gloomy and cold so after dropping Mrs M at work early we headed back to make use of our findings. I had given them a good scrub in some soapy water yesterday so they were nice and clean for our creative session. The plan was to paint them (which i think i did when i was younger at school) so in preparation we went to Hobbycraft yesterday to buy some Acrylic paint and some new brushes.

Seth was excited about letting his creative flair run wild as always and the mention of the word 'paint' is always going to put a big smile on Opeie's face. I started to get everything set up and Seth wasted no time and ripped the brush packet open and began his masterpiece. I like to draw on mine so i know exactly where the paint is going, Seth takes a more spontaneous approach and just gets stuck in, and Opeie.... well, he likes to pretty much throw the paint at whatever he's trying to create. Three different styles yet the outcome is always amazing with a lot of love and effort put in.

Inevitably after about an hour of painting the boys started to lose interest and wanted to do something else. Seth, still feeling in an artistic mood decided that body painting was his next venture and decided to paint his own hand. Opeie?.... Well he decided to throw a little tantrum because i wouldn't let him walk around the house with open paint pots and a brush that was dripping red paint. Needless to say after ten minutes of crazyness they were back to their calm selves and helped me clean up.... yeah right, they went and watched the Lorax while daddy cleaned up, I'm such a pushover.

The whole activity lasted about an hour to an hour and a half but that was mainly because as we are three men, three impatient ones at that, after every layer of paint i sat and dryed them with mommies hairdryer which skimmed off some of the frustrating waiting time. My favourites at the end of it were Seth's purple and green incredible hulk and Opeie's multicoloured tie dye effect rock. When i asked Opeie what he wanted me to paint he said 'Spider-man' and 'The Lorax' (bet you didn't see that coming).