…on arrival of first child.
I found the below in my files, have no idea idea who originally wrote it and for whom (honestly not me), but seems appropriate!
Rowers make better parents: As parents of an infant:
- They understand sleep deprivation
- They are unfazed by incessant crying and whining (a skill developed after years of ignoring coxes and coaches)
- Immune to the horrors of nappy stench, thanks to years of training with other gross stinky people
As parents of an impressionable teenager:
- Will ensure their child doesn’t contribute to the obesity epidemic, by teasing it about its skinfolds and how it will never make lightweight in a million years if it keeps on inhaling those lettuce leaves.
- But will also make child feel better about its own image, by proudly parading his/her middle-aged body around in form-clinging lycra. Especially when child’s friends come over to visit.
- Will be cool about child testing boundaries and experimenting with alcohol and drugs (“You passed out after how many drinks? You’ll have to do better than that if you ever want to do a Rutherglen regatta”).
Jim Cooper