The-Go-To-Person…

It’s a no brainer that parenting is a difficult job. Rewarding, yes. Actually it’s so much more than just rewarding that it’s almost indescribable, but it’s not easy. There’s all the basic parenting 101 stuff like food, shelter and clothing - also a no brainer. But then there’s all the other super important intangible concepts like teaching and showing your children about love, respect for all living things, compassion, gratitude and how to deal with being angry and frustrated.
And then there’s task perseverance!

Task perseverance is high on the agenda in the Kirk house at the moment. It was a big factor with my parents (Mo & Gez from Wagga) when I was growing up. That whole idea of, if you started it you had to finish it, if you committed to a team you were with them until the competition ended, and if you couldn’t find something you kept looking until you did find it.

In our house one of my many hats is ‘The-Go-To-Person’. Brett made an announcement last week to the kids that I know where everything is even if things are lost. I know where lost things are. Challenging finds include Barbie’s shoes (that are about the size of a peanut), Lego and the classic matching socks (I actually don’t bother to match them any more. I’m sure the pre school teachers curse me!).

Now you might be thinking that task perseverance should come easy in our house, I mean the children’s Dad’s job on the football field is task perseverance personified right? Yes, maybe when it comes to shadowing and tackling Simon Black or Lenny Hayes. But when it comes to feeding our one- year-old daughter a Disney Princess yoghurt… well let’s just say the one- year-old has the upper hand!

Hayley Kirk

Also-known-as-the-other-half

Above: Brett with one-year old daughter Sadie