DAVID HUTCHINSON is thankful for a job that allows him to work from home. That means he gets to spend more time with son Jazz Alexander Yann Hutchinson.
“I enjoy it all down to cleaning diapers and washing bottles to seeing his awesome spirit come into its own. His ever-present smile and love of birds always bring a smile to my face. But I hate to see his disappointed face when I do have to leave home to go out and work,” David said.
The 49-year-old businessman and musician credits one-year-old Jazz with helping him to slow down and “listen to the wind”.
“When I am with Jazz, I don’t need the gym . . . . He is very active and since he has learnt to walk he hates to stay still. We like to listen to and watch birds and flying a bat kite must be at the top of the list.
“I have a real kite frame and kite paper waiting for him to be old enough to help me paste it. But mostly I enjoy those fleeting moments when he just sits still in my arms and murmurs ‘daddy’. Jazz absorbs everything that happens around him so watching him learn is special to me.”
David calls himself the disciplinarian, but Jazz’s Janelle “also tends to help discipline him, but Jazz is very obedient so we have not had much opportunity to pull rank”.
David gets Jazz ready in the mornings. Pickup duties in the evenings are shared with Janelle as grandmum Marina picks him up from nursery.
“Mummy gets home late sometimes but when she is early we play with him and or read to him. Jazz also loves Busy Beavers online learning resources so I often pull it up on my phone and sit with him in my arms while he watches until bedtime.”
David said every day he learns something new and “Jazz is teaching me what I need to know about parenting . . . . I had no idea that babies needed to be fed every two hours . . . . I still find it hard to wrap my head around that. Without mummy he would be very thin,” David said, laughing.
David said he started late in life to be a dad, so he is soaking up every moment he can.
“I always harboured the fear of developmental mishaps. I had that fear from the time I first thought of having children. But it is already obvious that Jazz is really intelligent so I am blessed in that aspect.”
David said he sees some parts of himself in Jazz. “I suspect some of that scares his mummy,” he said, laughing very loudly.
David was born in England to Bajan parents and was sent back with his brother to Barbados for their education.
“I grew up with granny and several aunts. Unlike Jazz, my toys were marbles, trees, sticks and stones and dirt and, of course, my imagination. I suspect that he would prefer his toys to mine but I fully intend to ensure that Jazz is exposed to the simple things in life and is not a technology baby.
“My father ensured that we had sheep, goats, cows, rabbits, chickens, cats and dogs to take care of. Thus, I have a heightened sense of responsibility for those in my care and a love of all animals and nature in general. I am also accustomed to hard work. It thrills me that Jazz seems to already share my love of nature, I will find other ways to teach him a sense of responsibility.” (NS)
