On Tour With the Kid - A Change is on the Horizon
What we see currently playing out on the international stage is a direct result of the person you become if you’re raised with all the privilege and none of the consequences!
For those of us who have chosen to be parents or have children who might not be ours in our lives, how the next generation turns out falls squarely at our feet. We don’t get to lament the lack of work ethic, manners, empathy or sportsmanship without being a model for those things in our own lives and our own homes.
We are not rich by any stretch of the imagination, and this year has been a tough one by anyone’s standards. We were not even over the stress of the fires before COVID-19 kicked in. We suddenly had to worry about teaching kids from home while concern for our own physical and mental health, and our livelihood became a constant talking point among friends and family. It was tough, but we got through it. We were never in danger of losing the roof over our head, of not putting food on the table. We came out the other side scared but held together. I’m painfully aware that had we gone into that crisis a few rungs lower down the ladder either physically or economically, the outcome could have been very different.
My instinct as a mum is to make sure there are a few extra things under the tree this year just to try in some small way to make up for the pain and heartache of the past few months. It’s nice when you can do that for your kids. As the saying goes, however, with great privilege comes great responsibility. My mum has always been one to lead by example, and four years ago, we came up with a tradition that has continued to this day. As the advent calendar begins its count down on December 1 to the big day, the kid gets her chocolate every day, but it also comes with a note about something nice that we need to do for someone else. All the tasks are specifically chosen to reflect our family values and the things and people that we love.
These are a few of the things we have chosen this year:
Make shortbread with her grandmothers’ recipe and deliver it to our neighbours. They have been such a huge source of love and support during a challenging year.
Donate a dress to The Marninwarnitikura Women Resource Centre in the Fitzroy Valley in WA. Their goal is to reach 1000 dresses in the next 12 months to gift to the women, so we are going to round up some dresses and help them out.
Put a special compost bin system into the garden. The environment is important, and we want to cut down as much waste as we can.
My mum has a huge affection for Turtles and regularly donates to wildlife funds, so this year the kid has adopted and tracked a turtle from a rescue Centre in Florida (we have already picked out Turtle and her name is Justice Ginsburg, which we thought was appropriate)
Host a board game night for a small group of friends.
I’m sure there are things that are important to your family and the qualities you want to instil in your own children. I know we do it all year round but when the world feels like it’s falling apart, now seems like the perfect time to give our kids the skills to put it back together eventually.
Happy Holidays from the Kid and I.
