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School holidays with the kids

It’s been a busy and expensive few weeks, My oldest went to Otago university on a ‘taster’ course, trying out university life for a week.

https://www.otago.ac.nz/hands-on-at-otago/index.html

I took some time off work to spend some time with my youngest daughter. We spent three days riding off-road motorcycles to get her skill level up, so she can ride the same tracks with her sister who has had a lot more experience.

It’s been a learning experience for me as well as been a bit humbling as well….

When my oldest first learnt to ride off road bikes, I was learning as well, and it was an adventure we did together.

With my youngest learning to ride, I kept thinking she will react and behave the same way as her sister.
this was a rather patronising mistake on my part, as their personalities are very different.

She did very well the first two days, and even rode around the B-track that her sister normally rides on with such aplomp.

The third day ended with a crash. I made the mistake of heading off in front of her down a gravel road and she tried going faster than she’s used to. She has different motivations than her sister and I should have forseen that.
For her part, the crash was a shock for her, but she bounced back from that, when we left to go to a prearranged picnic with friends.

My oldest was back from Otago university for the forth day of motorcycling, and they both rode around together which made for a very happy positive day.

It’s been a rewarding two weeks.

The end of innocence -A parents view (satire)

We have a confession to make.

For years my Wife and I have lied to our kids over and over again for years.

Everytime one of them lost a tooth, we told them to put it under their pillow and the tooth fairy would come and replace it with a coin.

It was normally my wife that retrieved that tooth, but sometimes this was difficult when they buried it right under the the middle of the pillow and we had to be real careful not to wake them up.

One night, we couldn’t find the tooth and a very disapointed daughter told us the next day how the tooth fairy never arrived!

My wife artfully told her a story about how the tooth fairy must have missed it because it was so well hidden, so maybe she should wrap it in a paper note to help them out and put it beside the bed.

For years we committed the perfect lie time and time again, and we would have gotten away with it (perhaps for ever?), except that we got betrayed by my wife’s sentimentality…

She always kept those teeth, and couldn’t bear to throw them away.

The day of reckoning came when the kids found them after one of Mum’s famously infrequent tidy up’s.

I guess the fable was good while it lasted…

Guest post -The end of innocence -A childs view (satire)

Written by my elder daughter

Parents: Deceitful and Manipulative

When you think back to your childhood about all the good memories you have of your parents, you’re reminded of the lie they told you. Although it wasn’t just one lie really, it was three.

The three lies they birthed in your childhood. Three lies they convinced you were real, before the realization kicked in and you knew the truth. They had lied to your face all throughout your childhood. Convincing you there was a Tooth Fairy, Santa and an Easter Bunny when really it was just them the whole time.

Don’t you remember as a little kid waiting excited for “Santa” to bring you presents on Christmas Eve. Or when you lost a tooth and the “tooth fairy” gave you a dollar for it. Or when Easter came around and the “Easter Bunny” had hid eggs for you to find the day before.

They were pleasant memories, with the dark truths hidden from you. This makes those pleasant memories worthless knowing they masked a lie. A lie that not only your parents told but all parents tell. It’s heartbreaking to learn that not only were they not even real but you were convinced they were by everything around you.

TV shows, movies, songs, books all contributed to this lie, supporting your parents in their wicked ways to deceive you as a young child when you were innocent and naive. If your parents would lie about that it makes you question. Was anything they told you true? Was your entire childhood a lie? The lie itself is not the damaging part, it’s when the truth is spilled that the real damage is done. Usually your parents aren’t the ones to tell you they lied, and when confronted you’re either lied to or told the truth. It is a horrible feeling when those walls come shattering down and you learn the truth. It’s like being stabbed and it’s worse because the ones stabbing you, are your evil parents.