I thought we had kids so that we could teach them!

I've since discovered that the reason we have kids is so they can teach us!
And I can't wait 'till my kids grow up and have kids of their own so they can start learning what I'm learning now!
Because it's awfully one sided at the moment.

I love my kids. Nikki and I have been blessed with 3 - currently all under 5! The reason they are so special to me is because a Doctor told me when I was 25 after my kidneys had failed, that I would never be able to have any of my own.
Let me tell you about them.

Natasha's four. She's going to be Prime Minister one day - so her kindy teacher told us. ... By the way, that is not a compliment - it's nothing to brag about.
It just means she's belligerent, determined, selfish, bossy, and doesn't listen to anyone. She's also very persuasive, charming, cunning and knows how to get her own way.
As soon as she wakes up, Natasha is like a tornado that sweeps through our house each day. She hits the floor running at 5.30 every morning - including weekends and holidays leaving a trail of disruption behind her. She can't sit down and be quiet for a second. She doesn't simply watch TV - she acts it.

She takes the lead role and then drags everyone else in to act out the other parts. In "Beauty and the Beast" She plays beauty. Guess who gets to play the beast?

I have to transform myself into a handsome prince while she swoons beside me throwing imaginary rose petals at me, ending in a romantic dance around the imaginary ballroom floor and a passionate kiss. (Urggh) How come kids always have runny noses?

Then there is Olivia. Olivia is one and a half. She has big adorable blue eyes, bouncing curly blond hair, and a beaming disarming smile, which never leaves her face except when she has something important to say. Like, "Bor" (which means (?)... ball); "Shhh" (? Shoe); "Diddy" (what do you think? ... - Dog! and "Diddy" yes Daddy - me! She's cute, adorable, and so undemanding we almost forget to take her with us .

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