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then there's me ol' mate Benjamin.
Ben is 3 months old, and the first boy to be born in our family
for 21 years - poor blighter. Now every time he goes anywhere
all his cousins want to do is pick him up and play dolly with
him.
But his two sisters love him. You can tell. When he's in his
bouncer they love to rock it. Which is a good name for it.
Whenever our back is turned they like to use the bouncer as
a launch pad - pull it right down to the ground and let go.
We learnt something too which for the sake of future generations
we thought we should pass on.
Like
good parents we tried to prepare our toddler for the arrival
of the new baby. We went out and got her a "baby" of her own.
A "real-life" baby doll with eyes that open and close. Olivia
adored it and was fascinated with the eyes - she's spend ages
playing with them with her fingers ... Ding, Ding, Ding. It
was only when Benjamin arrived home we realised we'd made
a terrible mistake.
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At
her first opportunity to check this thing out she went straight
for the eyes - Ding, Ding, Ding! We can't take her anywhere
where there are babies. You should see the mothers in the Plunket
waiting room as our little darling systematically goes round
poking their baby's eyes out. I love my kids.
They're hard work and they're a challenge - and I make plenty
of mistakes. But sometimes I win big - like the times I took
'Tasha on a Ski Trip, and an overnight hike in the bush -
just the two of us. Great times .... making memories. And
they have taught me so much. They've taught me patience. They've
taught me to about gentleness and self-control. We used to
yell at them a lot at first. Thank God we don't do that anymore.
There's no more yelling in our house. They've taught me about
love and what selfishness is. You know, I found the only time
I got angry was when they got in the way of my agenda. What
I wanted to do. And they have highlighted what sacrifices
my folks made for me when I was a kid. Last Christmas I wrote
a tribute to my parents. I wrote down all the things I was
grateful to them for. I typeset it, had it mounted on a photo
and framed, and read it aloud to them on Christmas Day.
It was a moving moment, especially for my folks, who now have
it hung with pride in their Lounge for all to see - they felt
so appreciated.
(c)
Andy Bray |
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