I am running the son to Jeeralang today. I used to hear parents complain about running their kids around and dismissed it. I never realised how time consuming and interupting it is. A parent should be able to ‘just say ‘no” but in reality you are then stuck with a long faced teenager behaving like a two year old. It is emotional blackmail. It works effectively for them as it did for me when I had the services of my parents. Actually my kids are pretty good really. They walk around town to many of the places they have to go and although they sometimes complain about this, most of the time they accept it as reality.
Nothing to say
That’s all …. I kind of made a quiet agreement with myself that I would attempt to write everyday during the holidays but I can’t think of much to say today.
I visited with Brendan and got to wave goodbye to him as he went off to his new life. Yesterday when I visited he’d gone to spend some time with our grandfather, so I missed him. I didn’t do his resume, he said he’d decided he didn’t need one since he already has a job to go to and when that finishes up he’ll be in touch.
I went to a jewellery party for my daughter. That was interesting enough I guess. It was at my ex husbands house with my daughter and the ex husbands girlfriend and her ex husbands new wife and my ex father in laws new wife. My mum and auntie came to keep me company. It was one of the rare occasions I have been invited and I was treated quite pleasantly so that was nice. I like it when we all just get along. There have never been any dramatic scene’s though so it is all good. After all we are all just women, doing the best we can under ever changing circumstances. It seems so weird though. There were no exes in my life until I became an adult so I have had very few role models. My friends have been the best role models. Thank goodness for them.
Well I have managed to say quite a bit for someone who had nothing to say…
Family
My brother Brendan is heading up to Townsville tomorrow. I have 4 brothers and a sister. We are all very different and don’t see that much of each other. Brendan is the brother I see the least of and he has lived away from the family most of his life. He has been home at my parents for a couple of months. He was living in NT. He is also quiet and hasn’t got a lot to say. We have little in common and very different lifestyles. Yet being my brother means I can pop into mum and dad’s and borrow his sleeping bag from him to go to school camp like I did a few weeks ago. He can ask me to type up a resume for him, which I haven’t done yet, but will today. It is the same with all my siblings. I see my sister Kate the most and enjoy her bright personality and have quite a close relationship with her.
I know if I needed any of my brothers or sister’s help, I would have it if I asked and they would in turn have mine. We shared a childhood. On Christmas day, most of us usually get together and laugh together about the memories. We phone each other sometimes on our birthdays, but not always. We see each other at extended family occasions. Our lives are not really entwined externally but in my heart they are.
There is a wide range in our ages from me (40) to Kate (24) so it makes our family life interesting. The six of us all have different lifestyles and jobs. It makes diverse conversation when we are all together. We find links through people we know and share stories about now and the past and enjoy being together. We can quickly resume our childhood roles and it is fun to do that occasionally.
I admire my parents their ability to let us all go and keep a good relationship with all of us without interfering in our lives or trying to control us. It is probably what keeps us all returning home willingly and happily. I hope I can be like them with my own children.