Now, my kids are fairly experienced travellers. They’ve packed for camps, weekends away, ski trips and trips around the world. So I thought I’d give them a go at packing their own daypacks for Splore. What could possibly go wrong.
“One day”, I told Miss almost-12, “you’ll tell your friends how cool your parents were taking you to a music festival” to which she responded with the ultimate in tweenagese – the *sigh* *eyeroll* combo.
It’s about making time to spend with each other, doing something we’ll all enjoy, or something we would never have dreamed of doing otherwise – creating memories to share and stories to tell.
I can see why it’s called Whoa! As we pulled into the carpark it’s what all four of us said. This looks like nothing we’ve seen in NZ before. Slick, cool and lots of fun.
It’s not that I don’t want my house renovated. I do. Desperately. I’m in awe of people who renovate. I have friends and neighbours who have renovated several times in the time it’s taken me to not start my renovation.
Nothing clears a cafe a quickly as my three unruly kids turning up for brunch.
I’ve been installing Kids 2.0. You know, the update where they learn to do things that are actually useful.
This year, Mothers Day didn’t quite go to plan. I’d given my kids a very specific brief. I didn’t want any presents, I just wanted their presence. “It would be nice to get out and do something together”, I told them. Imagine my surprise when my Mothers Day present turned out to be a horse riding experience. I was overwhelmed. What an amazing gift. And what wonderful children I have grown. Children who have clearly spent a long time saving enough money for us to all go horse riding together. There was silence. And nervous shuffling, before Miss 9 admitted that not only were we not booked to go horse riding that day, they hadn’t saved a single penny. The thought that they might actually have to pay for the gift they were giving me clearly hadn’t entered their heads. I thanked them graciously. After all, revenge is a dish served cold. A week or so later I took them to their favourite toy shop. I told them I’d love to buy them a present …
Don’t worry. I’m not asking for much. No expensive gift with a price tag that is supposed to reflect the enormity of your love for me. Just let me sleep in.
Determined to ensure no Orangutans were harmed during our birthday celebrations, I used this opportunity to see if I could find store bought party food that was both Palm Oil Free, and able to pass the ‘omg-my-mum-is-so-embarrassing’ tween test.
Polly Unsaturated 