I'll Take The Win ... a blog by Shelley Carppe

I'll Take The Win.

It's not sport, it's harder. It's parenting. The baby years, the toddler years, the primary school years, intermediate, high school. The teens. It's hard.

Today, I'm taking the win.

Yesterday, I asked my two grown daughters who live in my town if they'd like to go to the Christmas Market with me today. They both said yes - one with her usual sweet enthusiasm, and one with a boisterous 'Yeah, boi' (yes, I still get that).

This morning, I awoke to persistent rain. I waited for the phone calls to say they were pulling out - after all, 9am on a Sunday is still pretty early for those not long out of their teens. The phone calls didn't come.

As we drove together to the markets, they laughed at my driving skills (isn't THAT ironic - I taught them both to drive!), joked about not bringing any money, ribbed each other about who was the favourite daughter, and generally filled the car with happy noise.

We walked around the market, three of us huddled under 2 umbrellas - they pointed out things they liked, things they thought I would like, they waited in good humor as I ran into person after person that I knew, and not a single eye roll passed between them.

We ate warm caramelised cashew nuts from brown paper bags, fought wayward umbrellas, admired bright spring flowers, tasted many delights from freeze dried feijoa to blackberry liqueur to potato hotcakes smothered in bacon and cheese, and splashed in puddles. They helped me pick out a pair of earrings - one of my girls bought herself some wee pot plants, the other bought a bottle of gin, and I smiled at their differences. 

On the way home they rang their Dad, and we met him at a cafe for coffee and more laughter. As we were leaving, I mentioned how close Xmas was, and they both decided to come around tonight to put up the Xmas tree and decorate the house with us. Tonight, our empty nest will be 4/5ths full.

To those of you whose family outings may still include fights over who gets to sit in the front seat, sulking, arguing, shoving, impatience, misbehavior, one not wanting to come out, or wanting to go home, one wanting to stay when you want to go home, or any other teen or tween trials, let this encourage you.

There's no better feeling than adult children who WANT to spend time with you.

Today, I'm taking the win.