We’re leaving London! The decision has been made.  The (one-way) flights have been booked.

Why? Oh, why?

Since Fergus was born our sense of time has changed. Each day seems more fleeting, perhaps because each day is such a significant portion of Fergus’ new life. Perhaps because the days seem to blur into a stream of spew, nappies and sleeps. (Perhaps because those sleeps are shorter than they’ve ever been before?)

But certainly something very strange has happened: Fergus is seven weeks old already, and yet surely it’s only been a couple of weeks? At this rate, in a flash of overgrown babygros and size-up nappies, he’ll soon be a year old and walking around, pushing mashed banana into his face, communicating in all-new grunts, well on his way to becoming a Real Boy. It’s happening way too fast.

Our Pre-Baby lives were plodding along at a very reasonable pace: we had lots of time to achieve our dreams and often did the things we talked about doing.

But Post-Baby is very different. Now it seems that time is racing, that we are getting older each day, and that if we don’t seize the moment and do the things we want to do… …things may change, time may pass, and we may miss out.

This Carpe Diem feeling has been strong since Fergus was born, and it’s led to…

The Big Decision

Right now, we’d rather be playing with Fergus and working on our dreams (writing great childrens books and crazy-fun computer programs). So it’s out with the “real jobs” and in with the family time. And that includes the grandparents, great grandparents, aunties, uncles, great and honorary aunties and uncles, the works. Plus bush, beaches, deserts… And more time to focus on creative projects that often get pushed to one side.  YAY!

So it’s back to Perth, Australia, for Fergus and his pals (that’s us). We leave October 31 (but we may well be back in June 2010, when the next Frances Lincoln award is announced and Takeshita Demons comes out…it’d be a shame to miss all the excitement!).

We’re sad to leave, but excited to be heading home after 2.5 years on the move. It’s been a long (and lovely) honeymoon. Doug’s last day was yesterday, so we’ve now got more than a month to play in London’s parks and fuel imaginations with London’s energy. Bring it on!