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Category: Life and laughter

  • A father’s tears

    A father’s tears

    smiling child

    By Julian O’Brien

    Last week I broke down in tears. It’s a simple sentence, but not an easy one to write.

    The reason? Princess Ella’s first kindy school cross country.

    You see, Ella had a rough night before and was starting to show signs of the winter ills that had gripped our household, but we decided to send her to school anyway as she was excited about the run.

    I rolled up to school later in the day to watch Ella run. There was a freezing wind around the school ground and there was poor little Ella looking pale and frozen awaiting the run.

    A couple of times she came over to me complaining of how cold she was, but I sent her diligently back to her class mates, despite growing in concern.

    Eventually, they got the kindy girls race started. Ella got out of the blocks quickly over the first 20 metres and then faded in a heap. She stopped to a walk while the others ran on. It doesn’t help that she is the tiniest in her class, but the 450 metres must have felt like kilometres to her.

    Ella struggled to half way (with all the other kids in the home straight). When she saw me, she went to come to me and I encouraged her on. Gamely she battled on and by then kids from older classes who had been marshalling the other littlies had all dropped back to help Ella on.

    About 100 metres out from the line, Ella reached into her pocket and wiped her nose constantly until the end of the race.  I was waiting at the finish line and wrapped her up in a big cuddle, reassuring her with “I am so proud of you for not quitting, darlin’’.

    “Can I come home with you, daddy,’’ was the reply.

    I returned Ella to her classmates and jokingly said to the teacher that I’d probably be back to pick her up in an hour judging by her health. Sure enough, the call came and I returned her home to Princess Kel.

    Waiting till Ella was safely lying prone on the couch and out of listening distance, I went to tell Kel about what had happened and just broke down. It broke my heart to see Ella, who was later diagnosed with both an ear and chest infection, battle like that and to think we’d put her in that situation.

    Yet on my return from work that night, Kel relayed a conversation which filled my heart with joy.

    Kel asked Ella how the run went.

    “I was a bit slow,’’ was Ella’s reply. “But daddy was so proud of me for not giving up.’’

    I certainly was, darlin’.

     

  • Read this and you will never speed again

    Read this and you will never speed again

    Matthew Woodberry Paul Harris FellowThis image is taken from The Advocate Newspaper. Read the full article here.

    Matthew Woodberry was a 19 year old with the world at his feet. He had a promising career ahead as a boilermaker/welder and was on track to make Olympic selection in his chosen sport of track cycling. Nothing could touch him.

    Then, on Boxing Day in 1999, driving along the highway with a mate, Matthew decided to see if his car could fly. And fly it did. At 200km/hour, his car veered out of control, hit a telegraph pole and rolled.

    His head made contact with the ground, resulting in him losing near half of it. With substantial brain damage and a host of other serious injuries, Matthew was taken to Hobart hospital primarily as spare parts for someone else in need. He was not meant to live.

    On Saturday night at the Rotary Devonport North changeover dinner, one of Rotary’s elite spoke about Matthew’s involvement in the RYDA program – Rotary Youth Driver Awareness. Through that program Matthew has now spoken to over 6000 high school students about his accident, the volume of gravel surgeons took from his head, the state of his car after the crash and the long rehabilitation process he still undertakes today. Some of the contents is graphic. And his story has brought seasoned school teaches to tears.

    Matthew is also frank about the fact he was never meant to walk or talk again. Although, by all reports it’s often hard now to shut him up. And he’s finally made it back to the cycling track, going so far as to tie a hand and foot to the bike to make it possible.

    After telling this story, and with Matthew by his side, the Rotarian began talking about the Paul Harris Fellow Award, Rotary’s highest accolade for individuals and one that isn’t given out lightly – especially not to non-Rotarians.

    Tears began to fall from each of the faces that adorned the room as everyone realised Matthew was being honoured as a Paul Harris Fellow. While many in Matthew’s position hide away, not willing to share their experiences, Matthew regularly relives that horror day again and again. All for the sake of saving one young life; to stop one young driver taking a stupid risk on the road.

    Knowing some of the things I did – stupid things – as a young driver, I wish I’d had a wake up call like this. I was one of the lucky ones. As a woman in my life keeps telling me: “my time wasn’t up”.

    At the end of what was an incredibly moving speech, the Rotarian turned to Matthew and said: “Matthew, it’s been an honour knowing you”. To which Matthew quickly replied: “I’m not dying, you know”. While everyone else at the dinner was in hysterics, I’m sure his parents were quietly thinking: “Thank god”.

    If you have a young person in your life who holds a license, I recommend getting them to attend a RYDA program. It may make them think twice next time they take to the road.

    Thinking back to your own youth and the risks you took, what do you worry most about with your children getting older? Is it speeding, drugs and alcohol or something entirely different?

  • {Raising princesses}: How to do a girl’s hair without tears

    {Raising princesses}: How to do a girl’s hair without tears

    doing a girl's hair without tears

    Not so long ago, I cottoned onto a secret weapon in the hair washing department to avoid tears. We play hairdressers – complete with “hairdresser voice”. Apologies to all my beautiful hairdressing friends.

    It goes a little something like this:

    Me: “How are you today? Good? How was your week? We’ve been flat out with clients.’’

    Ella, in turn, answers each of the questions in her “grown up voice’’, telling me about her busy week doing drawings and dancing on stage to a huge crowd (that one obviously happened in her huge imagination).

    Once the shampoo is in and her hair piled on top of her head, we grab the mirror so she can look at herself – and laugh. She has a choice of whether she lies back and has it rinsed out or uses the Dora the Explorer hair rinsing bucket thingy.

    This has even transferred to the mornings, where she says to the old woman looking back at her in the mirror: “I’ll have two plaits, please hairdresser’’. Whatever makes the mornings less stressful, I’m happy to go with.

    doing a girl's hair

    A few weeks ago I took to Facebook to ask what suggestions other mums had around doing a child’s hair without tears. Here are the responses, with some really awesome ideas (note, some of the longer answers Facebook wouldn’t allow me to fully copy, so I have typed in bits and pieces from those):

    Caroline: I spray detangler into my daughter’s hair and spritz her hair with some plain water from a squirty bottle. I then comb it all through with a wide tooth comb. Finally I add some hair gel to try and tame her curls. I hope this helps.

    Katrina: I use Johnsons Junior Detangle Spray it works a treat and my li’l girl loves the fragrance

    Sarah: Spray and a tangle teezer brush.

    Jane: Johnson’s Jnr Detangle Spray is excellent!

    Casey: Brush and plait the night before, then in the morning take out the plait and deal with tangle free locks in the morning…

    Kristy Lee: There’s awesome brushes my sister just got into her salon and they are great for knotty hair. The brush is called Tangle Teaser and it’s made by someone with the name Paul in it.

    Harmony: We use detangle here too and it smells nice also 🙂

    Linda:Coconut oil or just normal hair conditioner are both great detanglers… My eldest has thick thick wavy hair, it’s a nightmare. My other tip is that you don’t necessarily have to get EVERY knot out… just hide them in a bun or plaits. The only thing with coconut oil is, if you use those rubber band type hairbands it disintegrates the rubber and they break. Weird but true.

    Debbie: Start putting your daughters hair up as soon as it can be done. Do this regularly (even though they’ll take it out constantly). It’s good to get them used to it.. I also spray with water with oils in it (nit preventer) and plait school

    Casey: Oh the best part about the night before plait is that if you are running ridiculously late you can clip the escapee hairs and wet and you’re right to go… lol

    Amie: Conditioner mixed with water in a fairy spray bottle works a treat! I hear its also a good deterant for school pests 🙂

    Tricia: The Tangle Teasers need to be seen to be believed. They really do work. Mornings at my house are much better retail for $30 and $35 but well worth it

    Amanda: I like to ask the girls to run the brush through their hair themselves, before I get to it. This way they can have tackled some of the knots themselves, and it’s not as bad. Another tip is to hold the hair tightly with your fist wrapped around it and start by brushing the ends. Because you’re holding the hair you can brush it as fiercely as needed without it pulling at the roots of their hair.

    Emma-Louise: Preparation is the key – the night before in the shower/bath always apply conditioner and COMB through, this will ensure tangle free hair every single time, Rinse it, gently comb and air dry. The following day just lightly spray with warm water with a squirter bottle and, again, lightly use a wide toothed comb to rake hair into position – then smooth quickly with a natural bristle brush and lakki band it. My specialty is easy, fast, gorgeous beautiful hair.

    What tips could you add to this list? Is hair time in the morning a challenge or something you enjoy in your house?

  • {The Shed} When your children are chalk and cheese

    {The Shed} When your children are chalk and cheese

    Burnie play centreChalk and cheese, Carlton and Collingwood, wine and water or Ford and Ferrari. It is a pleasure to be the father of two girls who are completely different in personality.  Now I’m not saying one is better than the other. Just different.

    Ella has been daddy’s little girl from the moment she was born four years ago.  Again, she and her mum are very close, but – much to mum’s disgust – Ella knows she has me wrapped around her little finger and uses that advantage unmercifully.

    Little Holly is another story.  Due to the fact I’ve spent much of her lifetime getting Ella “out of mum’s hair” it has taken Holly and I time to develop the same formidable bond.

    Recently, she has become enormously affectionate – spontaneously wrapping me in bear-like hugs and planting long, wet sloppy kisses on me at will.  Those moments make me deliriously happy.

    What I love about my two “little girls” are their differences.  Perhaps, like many first kids, Ella has been over protected and as a result is a bit of a wuss, scared of any height above my shoulder height and – in the nicest way – a bit of a sook.

    Holly, on the other hand, has no fear.  We played a practical joke on the girls at Easter disguising chocolate as rabbit poo and while Ella looked on in disgust, Holly was filling her face with said “droppings’’.  Typical “second child syndrome”.

    Recently we took both girls to the opening of a new children’s play centre in a city close by and the differences of the girls were on show.  Ella (4 ½) wanted no bar of the big three-humped slide – even with mum or dad.

    Holly (18 months) not only flew down the slide with mum and dad on each occasion, but wanted more and would stage a countdown at the top of the slide: “Eddy, Set, Ghooooo’’.

    Burnie play centre

    You all have read plenty about Ella on this blog.  Holly is her fearless, stubborn, determined, individualistic and contented sibling.

    We love them both as individuals and more importantly (despite the occasional hair-pulling incident) they love each other.

    What sort of relationship do you have with your kids? Are they like chalk and cheese?

  • Guest Post: Who would ever believe

    Guest Post: Who would ever believe

    New Life On the Road

    It’s almost 18 years ago since you were placed in my arms. Perfect and so small, yet you had your own way of doing things. Even from the moment you came home from hospital. It was almost like you had been here before and you had your own set rules.

    Never did work out what those rules were but let’s look back on what you have managed to achieve in the last (almost) 18 years!

    Woody’s Oldest Son

    You walked at 10 months. Actually you ran… it scared me so much that we decided not to have six children – I guess we almost made it!

    You could climb 6ft wooden fences with your bare feet – and that was scaling them in seconds from the tender age of four.

    Broken bones? Yep… we have lost count! Your first time was falling off a slide in a playground – you insisted on standing instead of sliding down. But guess what – you were built to last. That adventure ended up in a hospital trip, three different doctors’ interviews, many questions and one pink cast. Why so many doctor questions?

    Well, you never said anything for a day (or maybe two!) so we hadn’t taken you in straight away because we didn’t realise it was broken.

    Then there was the time you were running through the house. And you mis-judged the hallway. You sure made a good impression on the wall – literally! You left your statues in that house (with your head imprint on the dining room wall)

    Then there was the time you said “Watch me, Mum” – where you grabbed some rope, swang on it from the trampoline, smack back into the wooden fence. YES. You did that, and you laughed. You went back to do it again even when I said “no more”.

    Can you also remember the time you climbed a paper bark tree? Sure, the climb was easy, reaching for your lost ball. But the slide down was not something that you will surely repeat again? Your stitches in your leg may have healed, but I still remember the day clearly. So does the neighbour who used to live next door to us…. I have never seen a grown man jump a wire fence before!

    What about your football smashing good times? You so loved to get out onto that field, and run towards boys double your size. You might have been small but you sure could play as part of the team.

    I even remember you sneaking out of the house to run away… we found your note and guessed where you were. Out on the field – with one broken arm… nothing was able to stop you!

    Over the years we have watched you grow, and said a little thank-you (maybe more than little) to your guardian angel. She sure is working over-time. Yet you manage to find your way.

    There are no set rules when it came to watching you grow, but gee are we proud of all you have achieved, and we are so delighted that you are about to turn 18!

    We can’t wait to the day you have your own family (just not yet please!). Maybe then you will one day realise how many of your fun crazy filled adventures sure helped your Dad’s hair to fall out, and mine to go grey. But hey, at least we get to say “Yep that’s our son”!
    Lisa Wood brought a motorhome from eBay and then had to tell hubby afterwards. Lisa and David have five boys, four of them are travelling and living together in an old school bus that is being given new life! She blogs about her travel at New Life On the Road and you can connect with her on Facebook.

  • Aussie Giveaway Linkup #52: A swimmingly good edition

    Aussie Giveaway Linkup #52: A swimmingly good edition

    dad and baby swimmingYesterday we went for a dip in a private indoor pool (because we live in Tasmania and you would not go swimming otherwise at this time of year). The water was so warm and the air so cold, at one point I had flashbacks to a scene from Gorillas in the Mist as The Bloke in The Shed approached me in the water amid a sea of fog.

    Ella loves the water. However, she’s had a real fear around learning to swim. Yesterday she was wearing her Wahu life jacket and gaining more confidence as the hour went on. After a year of trying to build her confidence to let go of us, she did. Her legs looked like a frog kicking and her fast-paddling hands were akin to a dog who’d just witnessed steak being put on the barbie onshore. But she was loving it. And we were beaming.

    Holly, at just 20 months of age, didn’t want to be left out. So, without a floatation device, she tried her best to swim away from our grasp and go alone. She ended up drinking about 15 litres of water. Her nappy later proved that.

    When we got home, I told Ella how proud I was of her for having a go. She responded with: “Thanks for being proud of me, Mum. I’m proud of you too’’. I’m still wondering exactly what it is she’s proud of me for.

    Anyway, that’s my small but important win for the week. What about you? What win have you had? If you’re still waiting, get clicking below to score yourself a chance at something nice.

    If you’re a blogger or business wanting to take part in the Aussie Giveaway Linkup: 

    1. Only link directly to the giveaway post/s and include the prize and end date in the linky tool below. Link each giveaway separately. If you need to delete it, hover over your link, wait until the red “x’’ appears and click.
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    3. Grab the button below to add to your post.
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