An extra scoop of kindness…

To the young lady who served my family ice cream this evening I can not thank you enough. Your compliment reduced me to tears. Timing is everything and you my dear stranger were beat perfect.

My husband and I have tried to enforce our love of travel and adventure onto our three innocent sons. We have entrapped them in two hired vehicles a Holden tracks for the north island and a Toyota RAV4 for the south in which to explore your most spectacular homeland. (We have form for this type of punishment- we travelled around Australia with them for 3 months).

Not only did we strip them of their liberty by land and air we ventured across the Cook Strait on the Interislander three hour ferry crossing. In this time I was informed of many of said vessels limitations. Flotation however not being one of them (thank god).

For most of the time but not all of it our offspring have fought over who’s turn it is to sit in which seat, they have argued over whose in charge of the map to navigate, they have cried with anger that there is “nothing to do in the stupid bloody car”.

So as to continue with our daily torture regime we made them leave their IPad’s at home. But it is we the parents that are being tortured by the lack of devices on board.

You an employee of Mrs Ferg gelataria  shop in Queenstown Beach street knew none of this- How could you.

See Shane and I the grown ups on this little expedition are not fully game fit we are sleep deprived. I’d like to say that our lack of sleep has been because of too many late nights sampling NZ bottles of wine but this sadly has not been the case.

Our little people are coughing at night. The type of cough that reverberates and builds momentum with each little splutter – a cacophony of coughs.

See I have been thinking that our expectations of our little men have been too high. We have forgotten that they are children and that they don’t have a high tolerance level for sitting for long stretches of time traveling along roads that are slow and windy.

Perhaps in some way the planning of our family holiday sort of missed the point.

Maybe my lack of true deep sleep in the last week and a half is the reason that my lacrimal glands got a work out with you earlier this evening but I think not- I was so grateful of your compliment.

You recognised in the short time it took my boys to order their ice creams just how special they are.

In your line of work you see a lot of children- I could feel your sincerity when you said how polite and well mannered they were.

You thanked me for teaching them to be courteous to others.

It was the gentle pep talk you gave me on doing a great job parenting that really was the undoing of me.

I just so often feel that I am drowning in the whole tit for tat 24/7 referring between the three of them that your kind observation will be enough to keep me going.

With much thankfulness,

Amie a very weary mother of the year (MOTY).