Inspirations

The daughter finds it hard to get up early in the morning, and drags her feet when preparing herself for school. Not a surprise. She is only following in the footsteps of both her parents. Usually, the missus and I have to poke and prod and crack the whip over her head to get her moving. This morning, however, I tried a different tack.

"You're not going to school tomorrow, are you? And the school hols start next week, right? Aren't you eager to have this day over with?"

For some strange reason, those questions worked! She was actually able to get her stuff together faster than I did. As I had pointed out before, children can surprise adults when they are suitably inspired. The last time that she did that, we climbed all the way up the side of Cradle Mountain for a good two and a half hours to reach Crater Lake. And then trudged all the way back down again. While this morning was not on the same scale, it was a good surprise.

Moreso because the missus is not around.

As usual, work has called the wife to exotic, faraway lands. In this case, the Great Southern one. And she'll be away for another two weeks. Which means that she'll be missing the school hols altogether.

Which puts the pressure on me.

Well, I've never been the sort of parent who drives his daughter to achieve goals, or to fill her life with all sorts of activities. Besides, I am well-aware of my own preferences, and would rather not drag her through what she would consider a 'boring' visit to a museum or such. Taking the most direct approach, I simply asked her what she would like to do next week.

Swimming, was her reply. And the Botanic Gardens.

That was easily done, and I promised her that we'll do them both. Hopefully, I can deliver : )