Parenthood 3

Parenthood 3

Along with the many joys you receive being a parent, inevitably you have to face disappointment too. This can be difficult to deal with, as I am finding out. There are times when our kids choices don’t make sense to us and the fact that there is no going back from some of them makes acceptance all the more difficult. You cannot help but wonder if you ever really knew who they were. And I guess this is the toughest lesson of all, as much as we’d like to think we do, we don’t know them. We only know the little bit they are willing to share with us, the rest is just a clever mask they wear to conceal what they don’t want us to see.

Parenthood 2

I have been a parent for eighteen years and I have just realised an important fact. Slow of me I know but often when a thing is always there you fail to notice it after a while. However it has come to my conscious attention that parenthood is a series of anxieties and it is only the intensity that varies. We have our joys and our sorrows but in between these high and low points we worry. Worry they are getting a fair go, worry they are giving others a fair go, worry they are safe, worry they are well, worry they aren’t hurt, worry about countless things. These concerns come and go constantly with seldom a break and no matter how old your children become, they continue. The only difference is the details. 

As parents we take on our children’s problems and suffer along with them when they meet life’s obstacles, and the more children you have the more anxieties you have to deal with, or this is how it seem to me. You can only pray that they do not all peak at the same time but by the same token hope that their ebbs coincide. Therefore I have come to the conclusion that it is at times when these anxieties are low that are the days to be truly celebrated. Not birthdays or milestones or graduations, weddings etc, it is the days when our kids are as happy as they can be with their lot and the level of anxiety is at a point where we are able to sleep at night that we as parents should take the time to toast ourselves. Because we can be sure in the knowledge, that at any given moment, it will all turn to crap.  

Day 14

A smart car that you see all over Italy.

© A Product of Silence

Today we say good bye to Italy. We left our hotel for Rome airport at 8.30am ready for a 12.30 flight. As we travelled on the coach we were all silence, our eyes trained out the window, getting our last look. When we arrived at the airport we found out our flight had been delayed by an hour and we also had an unscheduled stopover in Milan. This meant getting off the plane one more time and taking all our carry on luggage with us. 

We were in Milan for a couple of hours, where some of did some last minute shopping, and then we reboarded the plane and continued our trip home. We had another stop at Dubai and again at Singapore, both times just involved getting off at one gate and getting on at another, but each time you have to go back through security. I lost count of how many bottles of water I had to throw out during this process. Finally we touched down in Melbourne at 2.00 am and after clearing customs I walked out to meet my family at three in the morning. It was wonderful to see everyone, I had missed them more than I thought posssible. And as good as Italy was, I was glad to be home. It was the end of a fantastic trip.

Living La Dolce Vita

Day 13

Today we left Sorento, heading back to Rome. Our first stop was Pompeii. This decimated city left me in awe, such an amazing place full of so much history. I have trouble believing I actually saw it first-hand. Even though much of the marble has been stripped from the ancient city it is still incredible and been able to experience the places people lived so many years ago is indescribable. 

Pompeii

© A Product of Silence

After leaving Pompei we had a brief stopover in Naples where we had lunch. I would have enjoyed Naples much more had our tour guides not scared the life out of us with stories of muggings etc. As it was there was there was a protest happening by out of work men in the centre square. 

However lunch was incredible. We found a little pasta restaurant out of the way, up a tiny alley way and we had one of the best meals we'd had in Italy. This was mostly because of the entertainment which consisted of a man playing a piano accordion who serenaded us while we ate. If I didn't look up I could imagine it was Dean Martin singing 'That's Amore' amongst other songs that you associate with Italy from years gone by. It was a magical time. 

Bay of Naples

© A Product of Silence

We arrived back at our hotel in Rome at 6.15 and spent the evening doing some last minute shopping and packing up ready for our departure tomorrow. It's hard to believe my stay in Italy is nearly over. We have seen so much in our short time here. I'll be sad to leave, but I'm looking forward to seeing my family.