My eldest son is about six and a half now. For the last couple of years, from his perspective, my work has become a magical place. I’m lucky that I really enjoy what I do, but the office itself is never going to have that aura of magic for me that it has for Tom. To him, it’s like Disneyland. I can pretty much buy off a trip to Disneyland Paris with the promise of taking him into my office at the weekend. Practically the office doesn’t have any reason to excite him – there’s a lot of desks, and a lot of computers. Mostly we take in our games from home and play them there.

I wonder why he thinks it’s so cool? I reckon it’s because I go off there most days “to bring home the bacon”, and because the rest is a mystery to him.

When I was about his age I thought the same of my father’s job, and office. He did electronic design in the automotive industry and I remember his workplace smelling of solder, engine oil and cigarettes. It was fantastic! He took the time to show me his office, the electronics design office and the garage floor. Now I realise how ordinary it all was, from his perspective, and how it was all about me and our relationship. Thanks Dad!