Looking with new eyes

Another week has started. The weekend was a blur of me working and household chores, though on Saturday night did watch Hitch and I Robot on DVD. Very enjoyable - I really like Will Smith movies.

I taught a one-day antenatal refresher class on Saturday. It was good fun, three couples all having second or third kids - in this class the mums all had kids and the dads were all first timers. It makes for an interesting session that's for sure. Most of the refresher classes I teach seem to be either first time dads and second + time mums or blended families - very few now are mum and dad who already have a child together. A sign of the times I suppose. Refreshers are really great to teach though because the couple are a lot more relaxed, the dads are usually really keen (more so than the mums) and there are a variety of birthing experiences and knowledge from the mums.

It is so affirming to me teaching these classes as it is one of the few areas of my life where I get feedback and acknowledgement that I am doing a good job. The class evaluations were good and I went home buzzing feeling really great about myself.

Lather that afternoon I was watching our kids across the road at the park with the other kids in the neighbourhood and I thought how lucky they were to be so carefree and to have so many friends that live locally and are on hand for playtime. It was good to see them outside running around - mind you they all came over for food and nearly cleaned out the pantry! New Zealand children are so lucky - they have the lovely parks and beaches and it is still relatively safe for them.

My daughter who has just turned ten was allowed to have her ears pierced for her birthday. This morning was the BIG DAY...she got to take her earrings out at last after six weeks of waiting. I ended up getting them out for her and she put in her new earrings, but alas she had a sore ear. I felt so sad for her because she has waited and waited to put in earrings other than the piercing studs and has had no infections but on the big day she has a sore ear! .... Sods Law.

We took photos of the big event so that I can do a scrapbook page on this important ritual of young womanhood. She managed to wear her earrings until school time and I bathed her ears for her and put the piercing studs back in ready for school.

It had seemed such a small deal to me, but watching her this morning I felt priviledged to be able to enjoy the event from her perspective. It is not often as an adult that we take pleasure in the little things in life, but as a parent we get that chance to relive and re-experience the joys of childhood through our children.

So this morning I did the loving mother thing and after I dropped the kids off at school I headed straight up to the mall and brought Miss 10 two pairs of earrings!