Little Boy, Big Smile

There is nothing quite as good for the soul as spending some time with a happy child. And this post is dedicated to my little boy.


This is a lad who’s been through a lot but is finally at his “happy place,” and delights in the world once again.

He’s taken a real interest in what I do for a living – SEO and other online marketing related tasks. After giving him a very basic talk about what the point in SEO is, what it does and why it’s good if your website is top of the pile, he was quite interested as to how exactly it was done. He’ll ask questions and I’ll find a way to explain it in a way I think he will get. He has no qualms telling me if he doesn’t understand;

“What does that even mean, Dad? Is that even English?”

It’s with inspiration from him that I’m working on a “real beginner’s guide,” to SEO techniques – tried, tested and proven. That website will be live, I hope, in about a week and I will of course post a link. The focus will be on non-commercial sites really – aimed at bloggers or freelancers who want their sites to appear for some of the terms related to their topic matter.

It’s not just my work that he’s interested in though. He’s taken a real shine to writing. I write compulsively. Every single day. I also take breaks where possible to go up to the village of Haworth in Yorkshire to sit on the moors and write. This was something I used to try and do alone but I am inviting my son and Fiancee to come with me when I go this weekend. My son has taken to writing stories and poems a lot. He loves it and I think he will really benefit from the inspiration you invariably get from simply immersing yourself in the open air and taking in some of that good old nature stuff. Chloe also writes, albeit not so much fiction. She writes some great, thought provoking content though and is potentially up for a regular slot for a big technology column (more to come on that as we hear it). So it will do us all the world of good – me, my Fiancee, our boy and of course our two absolutely insane dogs.

But I am going off topic. Basically, on top of his interest in my work, in writing and so on... my little one has found himself particularly loving football and taking an interest in tennis again (he went off it for a while despite a clear talent). He’s got so much more energy about him these days. He’s very excitable. And it really makes my heart leap from my chest to watch him laugh his way through life just like any boy of 7 should be doing.

I like it this way, where his biggest “ouch,” is a grazed knee acquired from skidding across gravel in his (now ruined) school pants. Ouches like that can be fixed with a bit of TLC.... and what I am coming to learn is that ouches of the heart can be, if not fixed, stitched up at least, with a bit of time, a lot of love and an open approach.

So here’s to my son, my ‘mini-me’ (as so many call him), my raison d’être, the source of my smiles.... Seek happiness, son, and you will find it. Be open to being happy, and you will be.