Editing The Pen Addict 662/transcript (section)

== Birth registration process in England ==

* There are really interesting rules about birth registration in England, at least.
* And kind of like we ended up the hospital that we can choose even with the NHS, right, which is like publicly funded health care. You have a lot of options available to you, I think, in a way that people wouldn't assume. Like you'd think that because this is publicly run that you would just be told what you were doing or whatever, right? But no, we actually like got to choose. So we chose a different hospital to the hospitals that are in the borough that we're in based on like just past experiences. And we also wanted a hospital that, you know, had like a good neonatal ICU just in case and all that kind of stuff, right? So you can make choices. And as long as they have availability, because they're kind of like guessing how many babies they're going to have, right, at any one time, then they'll take you. So we ended up giving birth in a different borough. And then because of that, the birth registration, if we were to do it in our home borough, it's like a much more complicated process where all three of us would have to go and do the registration. But if I just went back to the registry office in the other borough of London, I could just go on my own, like just me. So we're like, oh, we're going to do that. That's like a great idea. Because then it's just the minimum amount of effort on the whole family. Dean is still recovering because we're just a couple of weeks in. And we didn't really want, and that would have been a much further trip than we'd taken the baby on at that point. I will say our baby, true London baby, she's already been on a bus. She's been on the tube. She's been on a train. She's even been on a tram. There's like this weird tram line in a part of London, which I don't know why it exists, but she's been on that too. So she's true London baby, all forms of transport. You know, this kid, she's out there. She's living life. Nice.
* And so I went, but it was too much. I didn't want to take her on the trip, so I went on my own. So do the whole thing, and we're looking through the documentation.
* Terrifying, right, to fill out a birth certificate.
* What I liked was we filled it in online.
* So me and Dean went through it together. That information is sent to the registry office. They then ask you to tell them it all again, and they're just checking against what you've written. They then print it, and the registrar gives it to me, and she's like, go through it all. I'm like, great. She gives me a pen to sign, and it is a Lamy Safari with registrar's ink in it.
* And the registrar herself, she had an AL star. No way. So, however, I will say, very poor ink flow on that Lamy Safari. I'm sorry. Because those nibs have been destroyed, right? There is no way that was a good experience. Because she's giving that to everyone all day. Yes. And they're just, like, wrenching that thing into oblivion. But I got the signature on it. Wow. And it has one of the most extreme, like, intense inks in it. Like, this ink has to be taken care of. I can't imagine having, like, a pass around Lamy Safari with registrar's ink in it as the signing pin for this. That's amazing. When this man slips through the thing, I was just like, oh, look at that. But I was like, I can't do this because she's going to think I'm a weirdo. By the way, on the birth certificate, you get to just, you know, you state your profession. You can be whatever you want, and I'm a book podcaster. Yes, you did. That's why I know. Yes, you did. Why not? Heck, yeah. Absolutely.
* What color was the Lamy Safari? You know, I don't remember. Yeah. It didn't stand out to me. Yeah, it was probably, like, blue or black or something like that. Yeah, something like that. The one, like, a yellow one.
* And that, I'm just, it actually makes me cringe how bad that pen must have wrote from someone who knows how to write with a fountain pen. It was rough. I'm sure nine out of ten people walking through there can't sign with that pen, which must be a nightmare. Yeah, it was surprising to me that it wasn't a choice. Sure. It was just what they gave, and I was like, huh. Yeah. She just, like, passed it over. Here you go. She said, there you go. This is what you're signing with. And I just imagine so many people pick up that pen, and they're like, what do I do with this, you know?
* What a mess. Okay, so that was the important question for this podcast. We have some more questions, though. How are you sleeping? How is the family sleeping? How is Sophia sleeping? You're asking the question that I don't want to answer. Uh-huh.
* She sleeps great. Okay. It's okay to say that quietly, yes. I feel guilty. No, no, no. To other parents, you know? No, we're just jealous. Like, we're just, like, I had one of each, right? Right. That's why. So, anything can change, but she has slept great. Good. For, like, after the first week or so. Like, we actually have to wake her up for a feed at night. Yep. That's amazing. She goes down at a consistent time every night, wakes up for that feed, and then is asleep until we wake her up in the morning. Yeah, it's beautiful. Yeah, that's, you're very, very fortunate. I said, we have had our own fair share of struggles, right? Oh, please. And so, this one being the thing that is working for us, we're very, very happy. It's been very, very helpful so far, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's amazing. That's amazing. How are your diaper pit crew times? Like, are you in there? Zoop, zoop, zoop, zoop, zoop. I'm getting super good at it. Let me tell you. Yeah. Because with Idina's recovery, so, like, Idina had a cesarean, and so her recovery was more complicated. Sure. And so, for the first two weeks, I did every diaper change.
* Yeah. And so, like, I just became a pro.
* Like, and I could do it. Yeah. I mean, I had to, I did a diaper change in the public, in a public bathroom in a hospital when she was, like, five days old. On a changing table that was at a, I'm going to say, like, 97 degree angle. You know? So, like, I'm having to hold it up. It's, like, a whole thing, you know? So. Yeah. That, like, it's a real nerve-wracking experience, the first couple diapers, and then it's just, like, are this is on. We're going to do this. Like, I can do this standing on my head, you know, hanging out the window of the train. Like, it's just, it's on now. Yeah. I've gone, I've gone fast at it. Like, we've both gone pretty good at it now. So, like, the diaper change is going well. So, you talked about journaling a little bit. How's that going? Are you doing a little bit of journaling about, you know, what's been going on in your life? I wanted to be doing more. Sure. And, like, I even took my journals home with me.
* Journals.
* You have to wait for that second one for a while.
* And I really had the intention of wanting to keep it up, but I just didn't. So, like, today is the first day where I've actually completed my theme system journal. So, I have another journal, and I've been doing some backfilling of it, like, just based on events that were occurring. So, like, kind of, like, doing some retrospective stuff, which I'm going to do a little bit more of. But, you know, best laid plans, I would have journaled every day about how I was feeling, but...
* It's exhaustion. It's, like, too much... Like, this does not rank as, you know, highly on the list of things that you need to get done. We have photos. On the chopping block. You know, and we have lots of them. I have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of photos of, you know, every single day so far. But, you know, the way that I've described it is, like, parenting a newborn, that's all I know. I don't know about what other parenting is like.
* But parenting a newborn will take every ounce of energy you have to give.
* Like, if you're good or if you're bad, it will take all of it. Like, because there's always more that you can do. There's always more to do than what you're doing. And, like, I feel like these days... I'm already aware, like... I've been a dad for eight weeks. And I'm aware of the fact of how, like, social media puts so much pressure on parents. About, like, the things that you should be doing with your child for their development. And it's just, like, I know that all of these things nobody did when I was a kid. And so, like, that idea of, like, there's always more you can be doing. Because our heads are full of ideas of these, like, ideal things that we should be doing of our children to make sure that they're developing correctly. So, like, if you've got a day where you're feeling good and the baby's feeling good, you'll fill it with stuff. And so, like, it just keeps happening, you know? Yep. And, you know, honestly, it'll be more available to you later as, you know, more, you know, for lack of a better term, you know, Sophia's doing more stuff. You know, walking and talking and, you know, throwing stuff across the room. And, you know, none of that's happening right now. We're just, you know, eating, sleeping, and pooping right now. So, we're in that phase. But, yeah. So, that's a new movie, Eat, Sleep, Poop.
* So, yeah. Last question. Favorite British guest podcast replacement? I feel like I know who sent this question in. Yeah, I'm curious. It was very funny for me to see Rob pop up on the show.
* I've known Rob for, like, 10 years, I think. Yeah. And, I don't know. It's just very funny. Very funny for me to just see him appear on the show. Yeah. I liked it. It was purposeful. It was a great episode. It was purposeful, right? Like, I wanted to, like, I brought in some friends. I brought in some people who have been on the show before. I brought in some people who were new to the show. And then, I brought in, like, a true outsider in Rob. Not in outsider in friendship, but outsider into the stationery world. Gotta keep him outside, bro. Gotta build a war. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, Rob Knight, the outsider.
* So, it was nice to have just, like, a new, fresh perspective. Yeah. On some of the silliness we get up to. I agree. Because Rob is pro-silliness, which I appreciate very much. And, yeah, it was always a, it was a great talk. So, we're not gonna claim him as the favorite British guest replacement. But, you know, fair enough, fair enough. I mean, it's possible to do if you only have one, right? Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. All right, Myke. Well, I'm so glad you're back. It was honestly interesting writing the show notes this week. I was very confused on how to do this again after just doing, like, full interview shows for eight weeks in a row. Well, I was also very confused when, I think it was yesterday afternoon. I was like, oh, I want to put my note about the Lamy Safari into the show notes. Yeah. And I opened the Google Doc and it hadn't changed in eight weeks. I was like, what's happening? So, I was like, I'm just not gonna touch this and I'll add it in later. Yep. And you'd already done it for me. Yeah. You know my, you generally know my schedule. Usually on, like, my Tuesday afternoons, I'll initial, my initial stuff will go down and then I'll work on it, like, all the way up until the show starts. So, yeah. Once I put that in there, you, once I updated it to episode 662, you were in there. So, that's great.
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* One thing I did not do for the entire run while you're out, Myke, was shout out of the week. Whoa, whoa. You're stealing my bit. You're stealing my bit. I missed it. We have a shout out of the week this week, Myke. Uh-huh. Go on. You sung it. You have to wait for next week now. No, we have to wait for next week now. You sung it. That's how it goes.
* After the first episode or maybe the second episode, someone pointed that out. I was like, you know what? It didn't even cross my mind because like I'm just in like a different mode. Like I'm interview mode and I'm not in our regular doc. So I'm just like writing and it's like, I'm just going to own it. We're not going to do it. But we're back this week with Kaleidocraft Prince, Myke. So this is my friend. Jacqueline started up a new business, 3D printing a lot of stationery accessories. And I did an unboxing yesterday. And the stuff that they are thinking about making is so fun. And it's all stationery related. Most of it's stationery related. You know, there's ink file holders. There's pens that look like dragon scales. There's a crab pen holder. There's fidget toys that look like pencils. Like it was just amazing stuff. And I wanted to give them a shout out. One, because I love Jacqueline and I wanted to tell her that. And two, because they're going to be doing their first pen show at the Chicago pen show coming up here in two weeks. So if you're at the Chicago pen show, go check out Kaleidocraft Prince. I'm also giving a bunch of their stuff away on Twitch this week. If you happen to listen to this podcast and want to catch me on stream, I've already given away one gift pack from them. And I just have so much stuff. We're going to keep giving everybody more. And you're not going to stop hearing about this stuff, Myke. One of my favorite things is I got a wheelie bin, Myke. I literally have a trash can on my desk that's about the size of my hand. I've already called it the steak Sauber wheelie bin on here. But it's this cool like tie-dye looking thing. I'm always looking for, I don't have a trash can by my desk. And being someone that's into stationery and paper goods, I always have like small sheets of paper I need to throw away. This is like the highlight for me. So now I have this little trash can on my desk and it rules. So thank you, Jacqueline. Thank you, Kaleidocraft Prince for the shout out of the week.