Family

We are blessed with 4 girls and 2 grandchildren with one more along the way and with the end of the year and all the festivities approaching it makes us realize how fortunate we are. Bringing up 4 girls at one time was by no means an easy task >You have to make sure you give them the best available,ensure they are safe and secure physically and psychologically and also see to it that they grow up to be stable and well balanced individuals with the right values.More important we wanted to make sure that all of them went through higher education so that they can fend for themselves in future. Today all of them are grown up ,married (hopefully happily) and doing well in their careers.We managed to put all of them through university but it was also credit due to them because they qualified to enter the universities in the first place.All of them went through their studies successfully and they even worked part time to earn something extra as they did not want to overly burden us.This I guess was their way of helping out which actually gave them valuable experience in life .It made them tough ,determined,willing to endure hardship and above all gave them Character which would serve them through their lives. Mum and I can look back with satisfaction and pride that all our girls are what we hoped they would be and we can say "Mission Accomplished".We have never hoped or expected anything in return unlike some parents who would demand that their children pay them back.To us ,taking us out for a meal or eating together with us ,or buying little presents now and then would suffice.anything beyond this is a bonus .The love of parents is boundless and cannot be measured and it makes us happy that what we have given to them has not been in vain.It makes us happy to see our girls grow up close to each other and up till today share a strong sisterly bond.It seems that when they were young the family trips and outings helped to lay the foundation for this bond. The family bond is really something which parents must cultivate and make sure that the members of the family value and appreciate and at times we have to set aside our personal idiosyncrasies for the sake of the family. In our younger days anything that we wanted to buy had to take into account the alternatives ie if I bought this for myself, would it deprive my children of something? And if the children wanted something can I give it to them? Last year we went to Melbourne and initially it was a no no for me because I disliked flying but mum said all the family are going how can you not go? No choice but to endure the flying but at the end of the day it was good to spend time and enjoy things with the family and the trip turned out to be good. Today we are happy to let the children call the shots in terms of planning and decision making and it makes us happy to see that they decide on consensus ,discussion and opinions.This is an indication of their maturity and the outcome of their education and experiences in life which we as parents must learn to respect and accept. Mum and I are quite pleased with ourselves seeing the children grown up and the grandchildren coming on well.What more can we ask for???