With less than a month to go until Father’s Day, Life of Dad is featuring a different great dad each and every today. Today, we talked to Stephen Greene. Here’s his bio, in his words:
Originally from the UK, I now live in Curitiba in the south of Brazil. I am an English teacher, teacher trainer and materials writer. With my Brazilian wife we are bringing our son up to be bilingual English/Portuguese. I like most sports, beers and reading. I don’t go out as much as I would like anymore, but that’s what being a dad is all about, I suppose.
My first memory as a father is… Apart from the birth, the next memory I have is of walking around the hospital with Thomas in my arms and introducing him to everyone and everything. I was afraid of kissing him because I sometimes get cold sores and even though I use cold sore medicine I didn’t want to pass them on to him. Instead I gave him Eskimo kisses by rubbing my nose on his. We still do this today and it always reminds me of that first day.
How many hours of sleep do you get each night? As few as 5, never more than 8. It all depends on whether I have a deadline looming. The problem is when both my wife and I have deadlines.
How many hours of sleep did you get before you became a father? 8. Unless I had been to the pub the night before.
What’s your favorite meal? Indian food.
What’s your favorite meal to cook for your kids? Pizza.
My most traumatic parenting experience was when… Thomas had a bad cold and we gave him some medicine. About half an hour later he was just lying limp in my arms, not responding to anything. We got to the hospital and they said it was a reaction to the medicine and some tea we had given him. Scared me half to death.
What sports team must your kids like? Birmingham City Football Club and Clube Atlético Paranaense.
What sports team can your kids never like? If he doesn’t want to support my football teams, and I wouldn’t blame him because they are both pretty bad, he has to at least hate with all his being Aston Villa Football Club and Coritiba Foot Ball Club.
If fatherhood was a beer, which type of beer would it be and why? Guinness. It is a bit expensive but when it is looked after and served properly it is a joy. If it isn’t looked after properly, or if it is served incorrectly it can be awful.
Describe your perfect Father’s Day. I awake to the sound of the front door closing as my wife and son leave the house. I get up in my own sweet time, check what’s going on in the world on the internet, walk into the kitchen and find some fresh bread ready to make a nice sandwich, potter about in the garden for a bit, talk to some friends, open a beer or two. About half an hour after I have started to feel hungry and fancy a spot of lunch my wife and son come home with a take out from an Italian restaurant that I love and we all have a great lunch followed by messing around in the garden or park.
Make sure you head over and check out Stephen’s blog, Head of the Heard. You can also follow Stephen on Facebook and Twitter.