Mrs M
yoda76Things your parent's did in the name of fun
December 6th 2006 02:47
As mentioned in my last post, today's topic is THINGS YOUR PARENT'S DID IN THE NAME OF "FUN".
Let's define fun. The Macquarie Dictionary defines it as "mirthful sport or diversion; merry amusement; joking; playfulness".
Apart from enduring the Greek folky music, my dad loved to go to Warragamba Dam. For those who don't know, Warragamba Dam supplies most of Sydney's water. So granted, it is an important piece of infrastructure and genius engineering. But it's a dam. It's not exciting. Not to me. I was 8.
It took what seemed like forever to get there in a car squashed between my mum and sister with no air conditioning. That’s not fun.
There is a concrete wall and some water. That’s not fun.
And that’s it. Explain to me where the fun is?
To make matters worse, if we ever had interstate guests, guess where dad took them? Sydney Harbour to see the bridge, Opera House, the Botanical Gardens The Rocks? No siree. Warragamba Dam. You’d think he engineered and built the thing himself for the amount of time he spent admiring it.
When I asked my husband what his parents did for fun he was quick to respond. “Dad thought it would be fun to sail into Sydney Harbour. He had a crappy boat that constantly broke down on him. But he assured me that he had fixed it….again. So off we sail from Georges River towards Sydney Harbour. We got there okay and that’s as far as we got when we broke down….again. Right in the middle of Sydney Harbour. Right in the path of a Manly ferry.”
My poor husband, I can hear the disdain his voice as I try not to laugh. So how did they get out?
“Dad pulled out another motor that he had lying around (as you do) and fixed the boat…..again!”
A friend of mine said when she was at school during the last week before holidays the teacher would let the kids bring in board games from home to play. Her dad insisted that she take in “educational” board games. She was assured that it would be fun. Needless to say no-one thought it was fun.
So what did your parent’s do in the name of “FUN”?
Let's define fun. The Macquarie Dictionary defines it as "mirthful sport or diversion; merry amusement; joking; playfulness".
Apart from enduring the Greek folky music, my dad loved to go to Warragamba Dam. For those who don't know, Warragamba Dam supplies most of Sydney's water. So granted, it is an important piece of infrastructure and genius engineering. But it's a dam. It's not exciting. Not to me. I was 8.
It took what seemed like forever to get there in a car squashed between my mum and sister with no air conditioning. That’s not fun.
There is a concrete wall and some water. That’s not fun.
And that’s it. Explain to me where the fun is?
To make matters worse, if we ever had interstate guests, guess where dad took them? Sydney Harbour to see the bridge, Opera House, the Botanical Gardens The Rocks? No siree. Warragamba Dam. You’d think he engineered and built the thing himself for the amount of time he spent admiring it.
When I asked my husband what his parents did for fun he was quick to respond. “Dad thought it would be fun to sail into Sydney Harbour. He had a crappy boat that constantly broke down on him. But he assured me that he had fixed it….again. So off we sail from Georges River towards Sydney Harbour. We got there okay and that’s as far as we got when we broke down….again. Right in the middle of Sydney Harbour. Right in the path of a Manly ferry.”
My poor husband, I can hear the disdain his voice as I try not to laugh. So how did they get out?
“Dad pulled out another motor that he had lying around (as you do) and fixed the boat…..again!”
A friend of mine said when she was at school during the last week before holidays the teacher would let the kids bring in board games from home to play. Her dad insisted that she take in “educational” board games. She was assured that it would be fun. Needless to say no-one thought it was fun.
So what did your parent’s do in the name of “FUN”?
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Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
MS Paint Art
Family joking was part of our fun, sometimes my parents would play a duet on the piano together, mum was the pianist, not dad, Christmas dinner followed by cigars around the table for dad and our boys once they grew up,
good parties with mum doing the cooking and the piano playing and all joining in the singing.
Mum visited her friends, dad didn't like people too much unless he had a drink or two under his belt, mum would read, dad taught the boys the mouth organ, but not me. He also took the boys to boxing matches, me once or twice to the pictures, occasionally with him on "business".
He did the gardening, he was always working, you could not fault his work ethic. He told us his religion, his politics and we did not dare disagree. Does all this come under fun, it seemed to , one way or another, mum entertained my young friends to lunch, dad cleared some bushland for us to play, the boys would disappear into the bush and heaven knows what they got up to but I would be sent to "holler" for them at dinner time and they'd come out from nowhere quick smart. Dad taught all the boys how to make crystal sets. I resisted mum's every best attempts to teach me sewing. I learned to darn socks, I would be sent for messages to the shops on my scooter, which I loved, set the table did the wiping up, resisted attempts to keep me doing the ironing and dusting, which used to put my teeth on edge, with floor washing I left such puddles on the floor mum gave up. But there was much love, laughter and joy from the simple things in life. I was very much protected but still got up to a certain amount of mischief.
Those were the good old days, more real than nowadays, more to do with people not images.
We were poor, life was raw but we always had good meals well prepared by mum and provided by dad and we kept chooks for eggs, my mother bought me magazines from England, I received books for birthdays and Christmas, with some toys of course, but unlike nowadays, Christmas was not every day of the week, Christmas dinner was chicken or pork, chicken was a luxury then. Incidentally, neither of my parent ever read to me but I was always an exceptional student, so work that one out.
I could go on and on but I don't want to take over Orble and especially Mrs. M.
That was fun. But I don't know how others would feel about it. and , of course, there was the all important radio.
katyzzz.
Comment by Hope
Gifted Parenting
Freelance For Life
Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
What a fantastic story. I really enjoyed reading it. It sounds like you look upon those days and smile which is great to hear. No point being miserable about it.
Hi Hope,
You're into scrabble too are you?
Love & stuff
Mrs M.