Tradition

Traipsed into Wellies on Saturday night to watch a few thousand dollars worth of Fireworks for the Guy Fawkes celebrations.  Significant for a few reasons.  The least or most (depending on your own outlook) was my birthday haha.  Happy birthday to me!  Driving and parking for me is pretty damn significant too.  But the main reason?  To start establishing some 'traditions'.  Birthdays, Christmas, School Holidays, traditions, memories.  Laying in more of our whanau foundations.  I want my kids to look back on their childhood and reminisce, just like I do now.  And I want them to continue the traditions, with their own whanau.  I am scared about making new traditions, because it means in some way that I must let go of others.  I find it incredibly sad to have to let go of the old, but am excited about exploring the new. 

Right, let's just get the driving issue dealt to.  I have been a Miss Daisy most of my life and have been pretty much driven everywhere.  Exit driver, enter Miss Daisy-Dangerous-Driver.  I am pretty much self-taught, with comments and training from whoever has dared to carpool with me lol.  There have been some near-misses on those crazy Wellington motorways with me behind the wheel!  Thanks to the carpoolers, I now know that my mirrors are functional (not just for make-up), you should look behind when reversing - or should at least look in the direction the car is going, flashing oil lamp lights are serious, and when the thingy goes past H, STOP the car (when the other thingy goes past E - FILL the car). And because of My Miss Daisy status, carparking for me has caused nothing but panic attacks.  Parallel parking and me will never be friends.  It is an evil, evil thing!!  I have a carpark in town so there it was.  On Saturday night I DROVE the kids myself and PARKED in the carpark.  Well, I did scour the carpark building for a totally vacant floor so that I could reverse in without taking out any other cars (getting some practise) and I got it in three little re-wriggle moves!  Yay me :).

And then we were off to the waterfront.  My kids don't have the street smarts I reckon I have (being raised in South Aucks).  So I was all cautious Mama and pointing out significant landmarks in case we got split up.  The lost kid contingency plan?  I would text them if I lost them and they would meet me at such and such a spot.  Brilliant!  Sorted.  Didn't even need it, my little pauas stayed close to me, barely ventured more than a metre from my side and were keen to voice "MUM!" at the top of their lungs if I moved from their line of sight haha.  Bumpkins all of them!!  Plus I held on to them the whole time anyway lol.  We had snacks, we had the coolest spot on the waterfront and the kids and I were ready.  The fireworks were pretty special :-).  I am all about building traditions right now, creating memories building and adding to our whanau foundations.  I believe we have got the first one underway.  Now, what will we do for Christmas?