Raising Amazing Families

It’s no surprise that the night before we are due to give her up to her new home that the weather is different. It’s raining with hints of thunder. Like this night, Glitter, our family cat, is different. She is no ordinary cat. For us, she’s like another family member. She’s kind, affectionate, empathetic and most of all - she has a soul. You can feel it in her. She understands what’s going on around her. Mel and I are convinced of this. Tonight in particular. It’s like she’s fully aware that tonight is her last night in our family home. Our last night together. Even writing this makes my heart sink, my breath short. I have tears rolling down my cheeks. It feels like we’re making the wrong decision, but I know in my heart of hearts that it’s the right decision. When I think back over our last five years with our beautiful cat there are so many amazing memories. Memories that I want to last forever. She is entwined in the very fabric of our unity as a family. Anyone who knows our fami

Here is  Podcast #3 Parents who yell at their kids sports . Based on a personal experience, this came about from a week we had as a family up in Cairns when our eldest son, Jack, played in a couple of basketball tournaments. One of which was the Inaugural Indigenous Basketball Competition. Jack was picked as one of two white boys to play in the Garbutt Magpies under 14’s team. The team was a good mix of youth and experience who had a pretty good chance to make the finals. As the team progressed through the round games it was obvious that they were in the top four, which meant games were getting more serious to win. With that seriousness came my enthusiasm for cheering the team on. This cheering led to yelling and it took a text message from Mel to say “stop yelling”! Whilst this wasn’t the first time that Mel has pulled me up for it, this time I realised the potential impact I was having on the kids, and the game. Even the referees were young and vulnerable. It was a really valua

My apologies for being so long between posts. We’ve had a fairly busy Christmas and New Year period. And to be honest - I’ve been focussing on our podcasts. So I’ll being them across to our blog as there’s some good lessons in there - albeit brief, so that I don’t waffle on past five or six minutes. So stay tuned as I bring each podcast across with a bit of a story behind each one! As always, please give us your feedback. Good, bad or indifferent. After all - feedback is a gift!