When my wife was pregnant she subscribed to e-mail updates meticulously outlining week-by-week the stages of development the baby was going through. Imagine if that service was in fact provided for adults as well.

My wife spend a lot of time digging around for information about what to do and what not to do when being pregnant. She happened to come across www.babycenter.com, which then provided these weekly updates. Sometimes they were quite funny, comparing the size of the unborn baby to fruits and vegetables, and giving tips and suggestions on life with a creature in your belly.

After the baby was born, the e-mails kept coming, with updates about what the little one is supposed to be able to do each week, how dads can bond with their babies, and what games can be played with the things in your kitchen. It made me think that it would be helpful to receive these life overviews for adults as well.

Just imagine your weekly update comes in like this:

Your life this week: 37 years, 6 months

• You do not mind long periods of uninterrupted sitting or laying on a sofa, but lengthy periods of time standing up hurts your back, and brisk walking makes you slightly breathless.
• You continue to be concerned about the shape of both your waistline and your hairline.
• By now, your BMI is likely to have exceeded the recommended level of 25 and the circumference of your waist is probably bigger than 50% of your body height. This means that you have a 7% chance of developing cardiovascular problems in the next 10 years of your life.
• You have realised that next month you will be closer to 40 than to 35 which makes you leave the bracket of 'mid-thirty' and makes you think a lot about your accomplishments, and whether you are in life where you want to be.
• Emotionally, you will continue to be concerned about whether your income is enough to cover alimony payments for your first wife, child support, and your mortgage, as well as to sustain the standard of living for your current family.
• It is likely that you think about buying a sports car, a thought you will brush aside quickly since the equity in your residential property will have shrunk considerably.

Tips for children: Make you father feel appreciated. Eye-to-eye contact is a great way of making him feel a valued member of the family rather than just a provider who happens to live in the same household.

Tips for wives: Think before you buy with your husband's credit card. Then continue buying.

Here Is The Writer : Billy No Box

Billy No Box has worked in the city for six years, and currently works in Derivatives for a North American bank. He enjoys playing golf, reading books by Umberto Eco, singing "Copacabana" in the shower and at karaoke bars, and occasionally updating his blog about London and everything else.

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