Dec 31st, 2024 - 10, 9, 8, we sat on beach chairs commandeered in front of the Ritz Carlton as the clock ticked ever closer to midnight. 7, 6, 5, A drunken idiot was lighting a firework in front of his face as I watched, nervous he would send it firing at my pregnant wife. 4, 3, 2, I held my breath, anticipating the year ahead that would change my life forever. 1, HAPPY NEW YEAR! The sky exploded all along Seven Mile Beach. 2025 had begun.
The baby’s coming
After driving our new family car out to a dusty track through the mangroves, my wife power walked ahead as the dog and I half jogged to keep up. She was determined to walk this baby into the world and walk we did. Every day, multiple times a day, with evening sessions in the gym bouncing on a gym ball. Months of preparation had led to the moment we drove to the hospital, DINKS1 for the last time.
My wife, cracking jokes whilst pushing out a baby, delivered our beautiful daughter who wasted no time telling the doctors to give her back to her mother immediately. 2025 is our daughter’s year.
It was messy, beautiful, exhausting, and exhilarating. It’s been fun to document some of it here. The highs were spectacularly high, the lows were unsettlingly deep. This is it, the adulting big leagues.
Six 2026 Resolutions
As we bumble over the line into the new year, one can only pray 2026 will be filled with calm, precedented events. These are my hopes for the year ahead:
Family 1st - Prioritizing my family’s well-being continues to be my number one goal this year. I want to be my wife’s biggest champion, helping her thrive not just as a mom but in her own right. I want to be present for my daughter and celebrate her milestones. I want to travel slowly and purposefully rather than rushed and painful. I want us to laugh a lot, only crying when it’s meaningful. Most of all I want God leading us through it all.
Stress Less - Something we learnt the hard way over 2025 was that doing the same activities we used to do as a couple with a baby may be important, but they’re hard. Going to a restaurant for example takes preparation. From packing a bag, to ensuring nap times are hit, to successfully navigating a poop-splosion while walking out the door without everybody ending up in tears. At the restaurant you’re juggling adult conversations with entertaining and feeding a baby, while using your third arm to shovel food into your own mouth. Sometimes it all goes to pot and you have to cancel. Sometimes friends are late and you have to leave early. Sometimes you don’t know your arse from your elbow and your wife is doing it all while you pace in a circle malfunctioning.
In 2026 I want to roll with the punches. Try to embrace the Cayman ‘Soon Come’ attitude rather than worrying about things that have never been under my control. Embrace the present, leave the past, let God handle the future. It’s biblical, it’s practical, it’s really hard to do.Stay Healthy - Continuing to fight the dad bod trope is important beyond looking and feeling like a snack. If anything is going to kill me, I don’t want it to be me not taking care of my body. While I’ve been pretty good at keeping up on fitness in 2025, my fear of sitting in a cold harsh hospital and waiting mindlessly on medical staff to poke and prod at me has kept me from doing check ups I know I should be doing. See you in the waiting room.
Creativity - I’ve always been somebody who needs a creative side project. Especially since I started studying accounting. Not so secretly hoping that one day, one of those side projects will take off and become THE project. I’ve really enjoyed writing in the second half of 2025. I’ve loved creating “Dad the Accountant.” If I could incorporate some of my other loves in 2026 like making short films, music, or coming up with some wacky business scheme while including my family in the fun, that would be cinema.
Friends and Networking - While I’m not a socialite by any stretch of the imagination I do enjoy spending time with people. The thing is, I hate small talk. It’s so mind numbingly mundane.
The weather has been hot lately…
Yes we live on a tropical island.
Those mosquitos though!
And yet this is essential to meeting and making friends. Living in a transient place where your closest friends are alwaysabandoning youleaving makes this an essential skill. Never mind that moving along in your career is all about connections and putting yourself out there.
Plus, when you have a child, you're supposed to make friends with other parents, parents with whom your only thing in common is that you both figured out how to procreate.
This year I want to put more effort in by going to the odd networking event, being friendly to other procreators and asking people about their deepest darkest fears before they start talking about some major sports event I have no desire to learn about.Wield the Robot’s Power - For all the hype around AI, people still haven’t really found ways to utilize it to its fullest potential. Most people seem to just be making funny pictures or sharing their strange pimples with a chat bot to see if they’re dying. I’ve found some fantastic use for AI in my workplace but I feel like there is a lot more I can learn and do here. Gadgets, tech, productivity, this stuff is my jam. But can I get it to make me some jam?
As we bring in the new year from our bed, knowing the nugget will be waking us up at 6AM regardless of what time we go to sleep, I wish you and your loved ones a Happy New Year.
What are your hopes for 2026? To get a cat will not be an accepted answer.2
Dual Income, No Kids
A note for my wife.