Kids are like a box of chocolates!
Most of the time you do know what you are going to get, but it’s the surprises that make parenting memorable.
In this case, the alarm went off at 4.15 am.
It does most mornings in our house, with the two youngest girls rowing and either the hubby or I driving bleary-eyed teenagers in the cold and the dark to the boat shed.
But on this day I was up at that time to get to the race-track.
I was producing a story on champion jockey Chris Munce and his remarkable return to racing after beating throat cancer.
Instead of pulling on Ugg boots and rugging up in a coat over my pyjamas, I instead had to shower, dress a little better and even put on make-up.
Needless to say I was rushing as I ran down the stairs, threw my bag and notebook in the backseat then climbed in behind the wheel.
What I sat on was a big box of malteses. And a note on a scrap piece of paper. It was the best thing that had happened to me in ages.
The middle child, who is a bit like the sun in our planetary family system as we all seem to gravitate towards her warmth, had bought a box of chocolates, written the most beautiful note-thanking me for the driving I had done for her lately and how much she loved me, put the box in my car the night before and was fast asleep when the surprise was sprung. Or in this case sat on.
Very much a sweet, caramel-filled, delicious gesture.
It made such a strong impression that I thought such a surprise-in-reverse would leave a similar taste.
I had asked the second youngest three times to empty the bins. (Her job for the month)
She’s a bit like the family meteor, a bright streak flashing around the house in bursts, then burning out with a thud.
She, like me the other morning, was in a rush to get ready.
It was a Saturday morning and she was going to school in her uniform to watch her schoolmates play sport. Most of her time since waking up that day, was spent straightening her hair. I know its very important to have luxuriously straightened locks when you are cheering on the first 15 rugby team, but emptying the bins takes all of two minutes. It could have been done while the wand was heating up….anyway..
I decided to give her a memorable surprise.
I left the full-to-the-brim bin in her room.
After all it’s nice to receive something unexpected and often leaves an impression. I believe she enjoyed it.
Kids really are like chocolates, although in this instance it was more the hard-centred, bitter-sweet treat that can often leave an after-taste.
Sweet or sour, you wouldn’t choose it any other way.
Karryn Wheelans 
I love BOTH those stories 🙂 Not that you need me to tell you this, but it seems to me you’re doing it right 🙂
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Rooms come equipped with refrigerators, plus flat-screen televisions and free high-speed Internet.
Traditionally, these nice blends were a real treat to cover up
the bad tastes of badly made beverages throughout the bars and clubs of
the 1920. As it was mid-afternoon, the kitchen was a bit quiet.
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