2 posts tagged “kids”
My daughter - blood daughter as opposed to step-daughter - flitted in & out this weekend, as is her wont. She rolled up 8:00pm Friday night with a six-pack of Stella Artois, introducing me to "my friend Stella" and wishing me a happy birthday. Nice thought. I love foreign beers.
I didn't see the kids a lot this weekend. They both had things to see, places to go, people to do. That was fine and we've both become comfortable with the idea that 'our' kids - hers and mine - have grown up. They are all adults now. Even Ashley, my youngest. A young man 1 month away from legal adulthood, who can drive, has worked in one form or another since age 14, and is currently studying structural engineering. Loving it too. It's one thing I'm grateful for. Two of my three children are on paths to successful, professional careers which they will enjoy and be comfortable within. My eldest, actually my second by two minutes, child Matthew, baled from University because he suddently realised, much like his father did, that his path wasn't all that defined. He needed to define it and has sought to do so since leaving school and dropping out of Uni. He currently works for Hutchison Telecommunications in a responsible capacity earning some $35k/annum. Damn good money for a 20 year old in anyone's language.
My wife's daughter - my step-daughter - is already a woman in every sense of the the word. She's is a mother, a wife and lover to Daniel, my son-in-law. Daniel is Danish by birth and British by citizenship. He's a geek. An I.T. oriented, talented and authoritative geek. He's also a gamer. For those of your who, like me, don't ken that lingo.....his hobby is playing computer games. A very, very niched and cliched occupation. Suffice to say we rarely mesh on any level. Nice guy.........but a geek.
So, here I am at 1900 hours on a Sunday evening, having 'eaten' my friend Stella six times (eat your hearts out, ladies) and left her exhausted & discarded, having moved on to a local 'lady' who is more robust, writing to you all about the life and times of an ageing Aussie male who'd love to share his photo with you all but isn't quite sure you're ready for the adamantine beauty of such a chiselled physique. Que?? Am I pissed? How rude!!!!
Yes....I believe I might be approaching that point, but gee whiz.......isn't it fun?
I'm a grandfather. At not quite 49 years of age, I dare say there's not all that many of me around. When my step-daughter advised that she was pregnant some five years ago, the initial reaction was "Yes......and?" As far as I was concerned.....her problem, not mine. I've still not really sorted that one out. Is it because she's not my own flesh & blood? I'm sure if my own daughter surprised us all......shocked more like it.......that she was a sprog container, the feelings would be subtly different, but none the less, ambivalent. After all, I've done my time in parenthood, thanks very much. I don't need or want to do it again.
All the above aside, my eldest grand-daughter - yes, there's more than one - decided today that in her never-ending quest for more attention now that she's no longer one of one, she'd join me in my sanctuary. My sanctuary is my shed. A large double-doored, concrete-floored corrugated aluminum garden shed. I brew beer there, and store all the usual garden chemicals, pesticides, camping equipment, woodworking tools and sundry other man-centric paraphenalia. My place. I was bottling beer. It's pretty much a one-person operation, especially once the bottles are sterilised, primed and ready for filling from the keg. Besides, I like it being a one-person operation. It's peaceful.
So Stephanie rolls up, having decided that she wasn't likely to get any more attention in the house from her mother, Nanna or baby sister, Abigail. "What ya doing, Grumps?" Yes, alright.....the name suits me, I know. I chose it after all. "Bottling beer, Stephie" I figured if I concentrated on filling, capping & stacking, she'd get the message & go annoy her mother. No such luck. "I would really like to help you bottle, Grumps" Oh dear.....what to do? Stroke of brilliance!! "Think you can hand me the bottles as I need them, Stephie?" A solemn nod and the quandry was solved. She handed me a bottle for filling, I filled it, capped it & stacked it, then she handed me another. She counted down the number of bottles remaining, counted the number we'd filled, added the two totals together & told me we had 30 bottles altogether. I confirmed her ability and told her she counted well. We chatted about the dogs (we have two), how dirty the shed was and a few other things that I don't recall right now, and then we'd finished. "How many bottles, Stephie?" "Thirty, Grumps! I'd better go see if Mummy and Nanna are ready to go shopping" "Okay Stephie......thanks for helping. I'll have to let you know when I'm bottling the next beer, won't I"
With that, she skipped off and my wife & step-daughter, in company with my two grand-daughters, went out shopping. Funny thing........I enjoyed the brief sojourn. Right down deep inside, I enjoyed it. Apparently so did Stephanie. She didn't shut up about helping Grumps bottle beer the whole time they were out.
I think I'm getting old. Even worse, I think I'm coming to terms with being a Grandfather.
