Hmm, I think I might have had my first taste of fatherhood, thanks to Bernard.

We were told to expect some whimpering from him when we put him to bed (9pm sharp. “No Bernard. You can’t have a glass of milk. No Bernard. You can’t have a cookie. No Bernard. You can’t have the light on for a little bit longer.”) but if Junior makes the same noises as Bernard did last night I don’t think my heart will be able to take it.

Bernard, being a pack animal (err, a dog), likes to follow someone around. For the rest of his life this will be me and Mrs C but we’d like him to try to sit in his bed once.

We decided to put his little dog crate at the top end of the kitchen. This seems to be our first mistake. Because last night (his first one at home) after I’d put him in his crate, he dashed out and after me down the kitchen before I’d made it to the door.

OK, I’ll leave him, maybe he’ll make his way back to bed.

Sadly no, he lay on the cold, hard floor on the other side of the door (I know this because as an obsessive parent I bent down to look under the door and his adorable little face was on the other side).

This made me desperately worried that he was going to freeze to death on his first night home. I’ll put a bit of veterinary bedding on the floor so at least. This was the second mistake. It triggered some whining that tugged so hard at my heart strings (I’ll just go and pet him a little bit, just for 5 minutes….) that in the end I had to go to bed and put a pillow over my head.

Going to bed didn’t help though. I lay there worrying if he’s OK “Should I go and check? He was very quiet, I hope he’s not dead”. That sort of thing. When I did get to sleep, it was only until 6am and my first thought was “I hope Bernard is alright”.

I’ve a funny feeling that this is what it’s going to be like to be a new father. Still, not too long until I find out now.