Guilt

I've been struck lately by how much of the advertising around us works on pushing child-related guilt buttons.

Take cars for instance. So many car adverts seem to feel the need to feature children, especially if the car isn't especially child-friendly. The other day I saw an ad for some flashy sports convertible (I think it may have been a Jag) which showed a young-ish, clean-shaven man gripping the steering wheel tight whilst twisting around frightening bends in a Mediterranean-style setting. And then he pulls up outside his house and his wife and child come skipping out of the front door and they both jump in the car and Daddy takes them for another spin round the cliffs.

'Don't feel guilty about buying this car for yourself. The kids will enjoy it too.' That seems to be the message.

Perfume adverts are using children more too, usually in the form of some curly-locked cherub leaping up into her mother's arms, brushing her hand across mummy's oh-so-beautifully scented cheek and then nuzzling into her chest.

I'm not convinced, though, that people do feel guilty about spending increasingly large amounts of money on luxuries for themselves. If they did, we probably wouldn't need the guilt-button-pushing adverts.

Birthday

I was driving today and suddenly my entire body was covered in a cold sweat as I realised I couldn't remember Jessica's exact birthday. I just couldn't recall if it was the 8th or the 9th of the month. I think I actually went into a state of paralysis for a split-second as the shock of the moment entered me.

Within another instant, I remembered exactly which day it was, but the fact that I'd forgotten it - even though it happened for less than a moment - shook me up completely.

After I parked the car, I sat in it for ages before getting out, just trying to gather my thoughts and calm myself down. I felt like phoning Martin to tell him what had happened and I started getting his name up in my Contacts list on my mobile, but I changed my mind. I don't know. Maybe I was too embarrassed to tell him I'd forgotten the birthday. Maybe I thought he wouldn't understand why my memory lapse had terrified me so much, albeit briefly.

Then I got out of the car and... got back to work. Everything just always seems to be about getting back to this or getting re-acquainted with that. Is it worth the bother?

Is this what things are going to be like now? Will I gradually start forgetting things to do with Jessica?

Am I making too much of a brief blip?