All's Love and War at the Fair
Having kids grants you licence to do things you'd not normally be able to do, like spend several hours watching old episodes of Scooby-Doo (in the interests of bonding), and hang around Toys R Us playing with stuff without people giving you funny looks.
This morning my wife and I took the little ones to a monster fun-fair set up inside one of Perth's undercover concert venues: pay up front for unlimited rides and more bouncy castles than you can shake a pump at. Not only did the excursion give us the opportunity to run the kids ragged, it also allowed us to indulge in a little regression therapy. Between us, my wife and I got to play on all the rides we'd normally be classed as being far too grown-up to have a go on, simply by claiming we needed to accompany our 'timid' offspring.
Plus I got to prove my fatherly credentials by winning prizes on the stalls for my son and daughter. The fact that the stalls were of the 'no-one leaves empty-handed, everyone's a winner' variety took the shine off it not a jot ... Yay, Daddy!
But while it's undeniably fun to indulge your inner munchkin and to revel in watching your children do things they've never done before (my daughter, on a ferris wheel, laughing herself almost to the point of vomiting), you're missing out if you don't take the time to watch the other parents too. Because sooner or later, they'll come up with something just as entertaining, if not more so.
My favourite today? The pair of mothers almost coming to blows over their respective daughters' behaviour on a bouncy castle. Connoisseurs of fine irony will appreciate the sight of a fuming parent spitting venom, the potential for violence fizzing from her as she berates another mother for not stopping her daughter playing rough.
Priceless.
This morning my wife and I took the little ones to a monster fun-fair set up inside one of Perth's undercover concert venues: pay up front for unlimited rides and more bouncy castles than you can shake a pump at. Not only did the excursion give us the opportunity to run the kids ragged, it also allowed us to indulge in a little regression therapy. Between us, my wife and I got to play on all the rides we'd normally be classed as being far too grown-up to have a go on, simply by claiming we needed to accompany our 'timid' offspring.
Plus I got to prove my fatherly credentials by winning prizes on the stalls for my son and daughter. The fact that the stalls were of the 'no-one leaves empty-handed, everyone's a winner' variety took the shine off it not a jot ... Yay, Daddy!
But while it's undeniably fun to indulge your inner munchkin and to revel in watching your children do things they've never done before (my daughter, on a ferris wheel, laughing herself almost to the point of vomiting), you're missing out if you don't take the time to watch the other parents too. Because sooner or later, they'll come up with something just as entertaining, if not more so.
My favourite today? The pair of mothers almost coming to blows over their respective daughters' behaviour on a bouncy castle. Connoisseurs of fine irony will appreciate the sight of a fuming parent spitting venom, the potential for violence fizzing from her as she berates another mother for not stopping her daughter playing rough.
Priceless.
posted by Pete Kempshall at 8:53 PM
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