A parent reflects on what kids actually remember: time together, not stuff. Fishing trips, beach days, pizza nights with family stick with you. Gifts fade. Presence doesn't.
Chapters
Do you struggle deciding what gifts to buy for people? Look, if you're anything like me when it comes to birthdays, Christmas anniversaries and all those sort of occasions, then you probably have a really, really difficult time deciding what to get for everyone. And if you have multiple cousins, nephews, nieces, children, kids, family, friends, all those things, then the problem just gets larger.
And larger and larger and larger as your network grows. And the reason why I share this with you is because last Christmas, I had a really, really tough time deciding what to get. You see, she's got great grandparents, she's got many uncles and aunties and cousins and all that they give her many, many, many things. And so I had a really, really difficult time deciding what to get her. She's got almost everything. And so that made me wonder. That made me wonder, what do I remember receiving from my parents when I was younger? And to be honest, I received many.
Gifts, but I don't remember what they were.
In fact, the fondest memories I had as a child was when I spent.
Time with my father, going fishing, when.
My mum took me beach, when my mom used to cook us spring rolls, on all those special occasions when my parents took us to the zoo, or even on those regular Saturday nights where we used to literally order pizza and sit at home and have the pizza box in the middle of the living room. We'd all sit around on the floor.
And we'd all eat pizza like a family together.
Those were the fondest memories I had as a child. And you know what all those situations had in common?
It was the fact that my parents were there. And that's when I realized that being.
A great parent has nothing to do how hard you work, nothing to do with how smart you are, what you do for a living, whether you're a doctor, a dentist, a lawyer, a solicitor, or even a coach. It certainly has nothing to do with how popular you are on Facebook, how many friends you have, how many likes you have, and it certainly has nothing to do with how many presents you give them, but how much presents you give them. You see, what makes all the difference is how much time you spend with.
Your peers, because that's the only thing that they will remember.
