Thanks Dad

On Sunday just past headed up to visit my sister Megan and her husband Tim, their 2 boys: Josh and Judah and her 1 yr old girl: Jessica in Roseville, Sydney. It was just a day trip so we woke up, packed up the kids, grabbed a double shot espresso from the gym and headed off – all around 6am.

It’s been ages since I’ve seen my sister’s place and this is the first time I’ve seen her (new) house in Roseville. The day couldn’t have been more perfect. The weather was great and the kids were behaving. Before we arrived in Roseville we had breakfast in Mosman (Avenue Rd Cafe) and then headed over to my sisters – we got there about 10am.The occasion was my niece’s 1st birthday and to make it totally worthwhile, my mum and dad were down from Queensland too.

It’s also been a couple of years since I’ve seen my folks so it was really good to see them. I was especially glad to see my dad as I’ve been thinking about him a fair bit lately. As I get older I’m starting to understand just how much he did for me as a kid. I remember one time I literally reduced him to tears (doing god knows what) and I can recall him saying “What else can I do Ben?… I’m doing the best I can mate…” with tears in his eyes.

Recently my own daughter Madelyn had brought me to tears. Lately we’ve been trying to limit our kids time on iPads, iPhones and anything Apple in general.  I mean I love Steve Jobs and I’m a mac fanboy big time but I’m also trying to raise balanced socially capable humans that value quality face to face interactions. Mad loves to watch her Master Chef but lately perhaps a little too much and things like general conversation with the rest of the family, homework and household chores start to take a big back seat…

I woke up one morning to catch Mad watching MasterChef. Problem was it was well before 6am and when I’d challenged her she had told me that she’d only been reading. She had even shown me the page she was up to. But the iPad was sticking out from under her pillow. Busted. She copped a grilling and was banned from any Apple device for the next 7 days. But the experience really shattered me. I mean I’m sure it’s not the first time she’s stretched the truth but this time it was so damn blatant. I teared up and let her know how disappointed I was.

I could recall instantly the conversation my dad had had with me as a kid. The tears I had shed over Mad’s betrayal matched my father’s tears. For the first time since I was 14 I finally understood what my dad might have been going through that day. The older I get and the more I get to experience with my own children, the more I start to understand the love, effort and tears that my own father put into me and I am so thankful.

I was so glad to see my dad in Sydney on Sunday. I grabbed my dad away from everyone to go and show him my spiffy new Hilux with pimping wheels and LED headlights. I also got to show him a project that I’ve been working on with the girls (that was sitting in the back of the ute) our very own billy cart. I’m sure he was proud and as we headed back to the house to join the rest of the fam, I told him that I loved him, thanked him for everything he’d done for me when I was a kid and gave him a big hug.