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Hello, brilliant parents!
Just like that, the day is here: my last newsletter as
editor here at Parent24. Kids aren’t known for expressing thanks to their
parents, but I’d like to say a few words of gratitude to you and some others:
To Sam and Adele, previous editors here. Thank you for
sharing your thoughts, minds and passion for parenting. Thank you for allowing
me to tap into your creative veins.
To Robyn, Zayaan, Caira-lee and our former interns: you all
have remarkable gifts to share with the world and I have been fortunate to work
alongside you as we chat about how to speak to this country’s moms and dads.
Thank you to each of the columnists who have reached out to
Parent24 with ideas, often weeping onto their keyboards while trying to express
deep feelings and experiences for you to read.
To Karen and my children: thank you for not being too upset
with me for allowing the world into our home. We’re not perfect, but perhaps
our joys and struggles have provided some smiles and encouragement along the
way.
Taking over from me is Sophia, a skilled editor with a keen
interest in reaching parents of all sorts. She’s a mom, too, so her ear is
close to your pulse.
I have learned so much from hearing your voices, reading
your words and making some mistakes, as all humans do.
Are there other parenting sites in the world that have
offered tips on avoiding hippopotamus attacks? I doubt it. We’ve delved into
some crazy places and had the best kind of belly laughs.
It’s been almost four years: long enough for a wobbly baby
to become a pre-schooler striding up the playground slide in a frayed-kneed
Spider-Man costume. Long enough for a stretchy tween to become a new adult, the
ink drying on a fresh driver’s licence and an awkward smile on an ID photo.
Time moves fast in Parent Land.
It’s been over thirty years since my brothers and I were
kids. This weekend we were laughing over a memory of a tin of boiled, powdered
sweets our mum kept in the glove compartment of the car when we went on long
road trips. The travelling sweets. Thirty years have gone, and we all remember
those holidays; elbowing each other for the best window seat and laughing at
the fart jokes we’d make after eating our hard-boiled egg picnics. Parenting,
hey? All the effort you put in and all your kids remember are the silly jokes
and the boiled sweets.
You can’t buy happy memories like that.
All the best to all of you and thank you for sharing!
