Principal's Remarks
What matters to kids 30 years on? My daughters reminded me on the weekend, that last Sunday was my 30th Father’s Day. Very kind of them to bring up milestones like that that make me feel even older. As a part of our celebrations, they collaborated on a list of 30 things they felt were important about our experience. There were a couple of things on the list that were about money, like being their personal atm and the petrol fairy who would put fuel in their cars when they were older, but by far and away the things on the list were about time spent doing things with them and for them. Things like “Singing us to sleep each night” and “Playing Old Maid with us,” “Singing with us in the choir,” and “Teaching us to drive because mum was too stressful.” These are all things that cost very little in monetary terms and yet they are what my children look back on as being the most important contributions of my fatherhood. At the time, I remember wondering if I was providing all the “things” my girls needed and yet as I look at the Father’s Day list, it’s not really about the “things” I gave them, but rather about the time I spent with them and the experiences we shared. Please don’t read this and think that I am in anyway saying “Perfect Family” or “Perfect Parents”, far from it, let me tell you and this list is only about the good things. However, if I am able to pass one thing on, it is that time and shared experiences are far more important in the minds of my kids 30 years on, than any things we may have bought and given them.
To all the fathers and father figures in the lives of our children, I ask you to spend a moment or two reflecting on what really is the most important thing you are providing your children, because from the list I was given, it’s not about the dollars and cents and it’s not about us either.
Have a great week with your kids,
MB
Luke 15:20: "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him."