Michael

Michael is my miracle, I never knew I wanted. I grew up in a family of girls and went to all girls schools from a young age so was terrified about having a son.

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Thankfully I have my darling son. Michael had the misfortune and privilege of being the fourth child, I say that because he never really go the chance to get into trouble, although he did manage a doosie when he was 6. He had the priviledge of being fourth and having a very confident mother who knew when to say yes and no.

With Michael I was most worried about this boy becoming a man with mainly females around, this I realised was futile when at ten months he picked up a toy car and said, "Brooom, brooom." an action none of the girls had ever done. From the age of 15 months he could point out different makes of cars which really amazed me since I had no idea.

Jaimie

Jaimie has an innate love of life, Jaimie has always been my adventurous child. At the age of two she could cook her own peas (her favourite snack food). At 4 cooked pikelets on her own. Prior to Jaimie turning five she never let me out of her sight, then when she turned five she seemed to look around at the big wide world and I've barely seen her since (hehe). 

When Jaimie decides she wants something there's not alot anyone else can do to dissuade her. A great example is when she first cooked peas.  I was breastfeeding Chloe and Jaimie was hungry, starving even (poor child hadn't been fed for about an hour). I said, " I will get you some peas when I'm finished here." and the reaction was "I want them now." so I said, "You need to wait or make them yourself."Jaimie got out a pot and the peas so I told her what to do and she cooked herself peas.Jaimie is a social butterfly, is great fun to be around, its almost contagious and because of that I do believe she'll do everything she wants in life.

Chloe

 Chloe, Chloe, Chloe, well there is only one way to describe such a unique person and that is with a story.

When Chloe was four she went to a meeting with my dad and as they walked into a room with 20 adults sitting around the room on chairs, Chloe looked around the room and said "Don't talk to me I'm shy." At the same meeting one of the ladies asked Chloe, "What do you want to be when you grow up?". Dad said Chloe looked at the lady like she had 3 heads and said "An adult" in a confused voice, what a great goal, so many people grow up and seem to miss becoming an adult.

The opportunity to raise Chloe has been a blast, I love the way she naturally thinks outside the square, no-one ever had to tell her to. Her love of life is infectious.

Chloe's ability to think outside the square helped her in many areas, when my kids were younger we knew a few bigger families and when we had meals together an adult or older child would wash the dishes and the rest of the children were handed tea towels and lined up to dry the dishes. In the lines you would see Chloe getting closer to the front then she would go from second to last, something no-one else thought of. Reality of course is she would have probably spent less energy just drying dishes, not my Chloe.

Sarah

Sarah has been extraordinarily wise from a very young age. She is very observant with an ability to work out the best way of doing things that for the life of me I can't figure out.

The day I had Sarah was the greatest day of my life - I became a Mum, just thinking about it makes my heart sing. She was born with breathing problems so went to the NICU before I could hold her. Four hours later when she was stable I got to go down and see her. Holding my pink beautiful baby for the first time stroking her face and hands, only another parent has that joyous memory.

Sarah was always a good big sister from the day we bought Jaimie home Sarah was always helping me with the baby. Jaimie's first bath was the start, I went into the bathroom to put water into the baby bath and when I bought it back into the lounge, there on the couch was my now naked baby who had been fully clothed when I left the room, Sarah had not only removed her clothes but also her cloth nappy and pins. Sarah was the ripe old age of 23 months. I feel very privileged to be her mother.

Footnote by Sarah: My mother is one in a million. If you wanted ten friends to stay during the school holidays, she would welcome them with open arms, feed them all, and make them laugh. Of course you would get the odd "be quiet!", "clean that up!", "no you can't have that!", but everyone would still leave exclaiming "your mum is so cool!", which at the age of 13, you know just can't be true!
She raised all four of us with the patience of a saint and with our best interests at heart, and did a fabulous job! I am very thankful to have such a loving and accepting mother, as i realise how important both of those traits are in raising a child. If I aspired to be a Toilet Cleaner or an Astronaut, I know she would support me all the way.

My Four Gifts

I do believe children are a gift from the universe and the joy my children bring to my life is indescribable. My children are Sarah 24, Jaimie 22, Chloe 19 and Michael 18. Sarah is currently living in Ireland, like Sarah I am a first child and I do believe its a challenging position since parents are trying everything for the first time. Sarah was a great first child when I said something inane she would ask why (she still does), Sarah made me the mother I am. Jaimie  is a Duty Manager at a local cafe/restaurant. She is currently saving so she can also travel. Chloe lives with her boyfriend and also works at a local restaurant. Michael lives with his girlfriend and is studying Computer Programming and works part time at the same place as Jaimie helping out in the kitchen.

I am doing this blog because I believe parenting should be a joy and alot of people seem to make it harder for themselves than need be. I hope my ideas can help others.