Publications
Partners
Bonjour!
One thing about kids: they can be totally unpredictable. It’s almost as if they wake up every day with a button in their brain set on “random” and they take it from there. Here are some of our recent random experiences:
My daughter has decided that she wants to learn French. She and Karen are now practising their phrases and asking me for help. That in itself is a bit dodgy since I only did French at school for one year when I was 13. You have to admire a kid for deciding to pick up a new language without any fear of the unknown. Now we’re having these odd conversations where Karen will claim she’s on board a ship eating cake, and Hannah will insist that she’s in favour of the truth.
I’m trying to teach my sons how to play the guitar. Upside down. All three of us are left-handed, but I play the guitar as a right-handed person. When we got James a guitar I had to restring it so that he could play left-handed. Now Jonah wants to learn, too, so they watch me play, then try and copy me but upside down (or backwards- I’m not quite sure!). I’ve never had guitar lessons, so, again, my ability to teach them anything could be limited.
My step-grandchildren came to visit this weekend. We have quite a collection of toys for them to play with, but what they found more entertaining was making mud pies inside the dog’s water bowl. Presley (our timid dachshund) responded by hiding under a table a lot of the time and shooting them nasty glances.
Then again, children can be utterly predictable, too: when it comes to tidying up, brushing hair, putting dishes in the sink- all things organisational- there’s a force field of reluctance. Every. Single. Time.
But enough about them. I can, in the spirit of randomness, share that I am not allergic to crayfish. I had a seafood potjie for the first time in my life this weekend, and it didn't kill me. Life on the edge, I tell you!
Some foods are potentially lethal, but you won’t know unless you try them and have a reaction. Life’s like that- unless you try something new (and random) you won’t ever find if you have the potential to develop a new skill (or if something tastes good to eat).
If you’d told me a month ago that we’d be learning French, upside-down guitar, making mud pies and eating crayfish I probably wouldn't have believed you, but that’s how the randomness of kids can make life interesting.
I hope your days are made more interesting by your children, too.
What’s the most random thing your kids have ever done? Share your stories with us and you could be featured on Parent24.
