Month: March 2023

Fortune favours the bold

~ Fridgesays ~ Leave a comment

Quote from a Latin proverb

On the eve of my sons tenth birthday he asked me at the dinning room table if ‘for his birthday’ he could put his favourite quote on our fridge… internally my mothers pride and quote goddess did backflips, externally the wise mother checked what quote he wanted. *if you’ve ever spent any time with a ten year old boy you’ll know that anything is possible and not necessarily appropriate. He said he’d like his favourite proverb, internally again, I was ecstatic that he knew the word ‘proverb’, and delivered the optimistic and courageous words found in the title.

How could I say no? That night while he slept and his Dad and I did last minute banner hanging and gift wrapping I took down the previous quote and went with his.

Parenting a double digit child I’m certainly needing this quote daily, he seems to have found a new level of freedom and independence that wasn’t present when he was nine. My mothering instinct wants to bubble wrap him from the world and keep him safe with me, but I also see ‘fortune’ when he returns with a new independent smile – he has achieved something all on his own.

It began with taking his bike out alone, a little further each day, it expanded when he announced he was meeting his Grandparents at the local cafe for breakfast. He explained the table was booked for 9:30am so he would leave at ten past, park his bike in his Nans garage and that would give them plenty of time to walk to the cafe…sure enough at around 9:08am he said ‘right, shoes on – I’m off, catch you later’ …what happened to me making the plans with his Nanny? Instead, I swallowed my own insecurities and reminded his to look both ways.

When he returned he’d bought me a cake and I couldn’t help but feel incredibly proud of our little dude (and always grateful for cake and thoughtful gestures)

Next he wanted to go to the supermarket to purchase some items so he could make lunch. I asked what we needed to buy, but he insisted it was all a surprise…he wanted to make lunch with us all on his own – from shop to plate.

He has been ten for nearly a month now and I’m feeling braver as he is bold, the fortune is all mine as I watch him grow into his own person, the gift of parenting is certainly from a distance of late and I dare say that distance will grow during the teenage years – something nobody warns you when your pregnant. The first steps, words and trying new foods soon becomes the lasts, in fact I’m not sure when I was last able to pick him up and carry him? He is working on picking me up now.

Be bold but take care and caution my mighty ten.

A memory is a star or a stain

~ Fridgesays ~ 1 Comment

Quote by d.j

When you started to read this blog, even though it was a few words a go…it’s now in the past. Every microsecond a little drop in the ocean of your life. We can’t remember all the individual droplets and we often romanticise the past, interpret to meet our current thoughts and feelings and in doing so change the horizons perspective. Constantly in motion, life is very much passing us by.

Don’t panic. We aren’t meant to be present in every moment, some days I’m grateful not to remember some aspects. I do however believe we are often our happiest when we are ‘in the moment’ not thinking ahead to what to plan for dinner, what needs doing later, feeling guilty for chores we should have already done.

Wherever you are in life, whether you have a sea of wisdom behind you or a puddle of doubt, it can be useful to reflect on if that’s how you want your life to look…are you a storm of chaotic tides, holding your last breathe before you’ll be swept to the next wave of drama or a calm lake that’s so serene it’s dull?

To carve a life worth living I often think you need a little of both, the stains of life teach us incredible lessons and can also easily be removed bleached by the sun. Light gives new perspectives just as stars have guided seamen home from long travels.

Stars, the brighter moments of life that can give us wonder, joy and direction can often start or become stains. Marriages that have gone sour, life that has become death, the ‘perfect’ job that consumes your soul.

Where am I going? Don’t sweat the stains, they can be softened with age, memories blurred or abandoned. My sons stained T-shirts covered with memories of spaghetti bolognaise can often disappear with a sunny day. The stains make us and the stars take our breath away. Both have a place to make for a wonderful life.