Freddy is a valuable member of the Artisans & Adventurers team but we realise many of you have never met him! As well as being Amy's husband and father of our tiniest team member, Maxi, Freddy has also been our prop maker, set builder and general handy-man-extraordinaire since the very beginning. To put it simply, we couldn't do it all without him! In the past year, Freddy has become a Father for the very first time! To celebrate this Father's Day, we chatted to Freddy to find out how he's getting on with parenthood as well as asking him for his best advice...
Can you tell us a little about yourself & what you do with A&A?
I’m Amy's husband, I used to work in the city but when we moved to Margate I threw it in to become a furniture maker. I do anything that involves tools basically for A&A, props, desks…the lot!
Tell us about your son!
My son is Maxi, he’s 1, he's very cute in my opinion. He’s a very big fan of dogs, bananas and the beach and if asked he can tell you the sound a duck makes!
What memory with Maxi is your favourite?
I think probably the first time we took him to the beach at Ballycastle. I used to go there a lot when I was little and it was such a glorious day, it brought back a load of my own memories and it was nice to think that hopefully he’ll have ones similar.
What’s your favourite thing about being a father?
Having an excuse to turn down things I don’t want to do! Only kidding… there are loads of great things. I think probably just watching him learn new things… it’s a great sense of satisfaction when he “gets it”.
What was the most surprising part about becoming a parent?
How much second hand baby stuff goes for absolute buttons online. Honestly, never buy anything new for the first 6 months at least… they will grow out of it or lose interest so fast and I can guarantee that whatever it is, it is available for 10p on Facebook marketplace!
What is 1 thing you wish you knew before becoming a dad?
How much stuff if need to get rid of to de-clutter… baby stuff takes up so much room you’ll need all the space you can get.
What 1 piece of advice would you give to new fathers?
Don’t listen to everyone else’s advice! Obviously be open to it, but do what feels right for yourselves. Every baby is different from what I’ve seen and trying to do it all “by the book” will make you very anxious, very fast.
Thank you Freddy for some great advice! Happy Father's Day to all the Dads & Father-figures out there.