I'll always be a baby girl...

As they drove off down the driveway, I cried and cried and was overcome with the poignant need to be a little girl again. I just wanted to be held by them, share my life with them, and have their approval. Funny really, when you consider I'm nearly 40.

My parents, as maddening as they can be, are wonderful people. My Dad, at 81 is so mentally bright and funny - and so frustrated with his body which is slowly but surely, letting him down in so many ways. Mind you, he just drove from Adelaide to here, stopping only to look around Sydney with us for a couple of days. And Mum, who is 69, was running around the playground chasing my son. (Nev was on the sideline going "Harri, slow down a bit would you!", but he needn't have worried as Mum caught him in the end!!)

We shared lots of funny stories and memories while they were here, and made some new ones as well. Harri was really taken with his "Nan" (to all the other grandkids she is Nanny, but of course Harri had to be different). He made lots of funny comments about her being Super Nan, and remarked once that her wrinkles "were very interesting indeed".

And as for the food - I feel like all we did was sit around eating and talking. I thought parents were supposed to be a good influence!! Several bottles of wine and way too many blocks of chocolate were consumed! Dad cooked two amazing Indian banquets (oh yummmmmm!!!) and we baked and ate more than I care to remember. We ate out for Dad's birthday,

(how cute is that birthday boy?)

which seemed to extend from lunch right through until dinner (with a bit of a nap in between).

But just having them around, was so lovely. Someone whose approval is fairly well guaranteed. I think we all felt a little bit validated, and that is such a good thing. More than anything, they were so positive, so full of enthusiasm for all that we are doing as a family, that I felt encouraged and ready to keep on putting one foot in front of the other.

Thanks Mum and Dad for coming all this way to spend time with us. Thanks for making me feel like I'm doing OK. Thanks for parenting me through the good times and the bad, and loving me anyway. Thanks for showing me that you can parent from a distance, but up close is kind of nice. And thanks Mum for doing all my ironing!! Love you both.