Last week son and I went for a road trip up to Canberra and Sydney for 5 days. We went to Canberra and stayed with friends. We visited the new Portrait Gallery (one of my favourites) and also saw the Degas exhibition. Son was remarkably engaged during these visits, making pertinent comments and asking relevant questions. We also visited the two Parliament Houses and the High Court, which son engaged with even more.
The family we stayed with is one with two parents and four kids, so it is a pretty full on household. The eldest child is a boy, about son's age and then the next three are girls. We basically did our own thing during the day, as the parents were working as was their son. One morning my friend and I were chatting before he went to work (it was not a holiday of sleep-ins!) and he commented on how quiet son was. We had a chat about context and relativity and then moved on. I think I managed to control my feeling of defensiveness!
We then went on to Sydney, the main point of the visit being to go to the one day cricket at the SCG. We were then told that our tickets would also get us into the domestic 20/20 final the next evening at ANZ Stadium. So we had cricket two nights in a row - what joy - what bliss! I jest, it was actually OK. I continue to be surprised at the extent I can engage with cricket when watching son, or with son. It's still not something I would choose to watch if I was on my own!
Son was in charge of the navigating, and he did very well in both Canberra and Sydney.
We are now at home sitting in the dark, trying to survive Melbourne's (possibly) longest heat wave on record. I don't really like them, but shopping centres have their place in times like this.
10 comments:
The temperatures in Melbourne and Adelaide today sound horrific.
...and today too Victor. It's 35 degrees at 9.00am!
A lovely post about your son. Do not be too worried that he is quiet - my 16 year old is too but he is happy within himself.
Hi TC - good to know you're still around.
You're right, it's important not to judge by others' standards.
Hi Campbell,
After looking at a conversion chart to find out what 35° Celsius was in Fahrenheit, it’s understandable why you’re sweltering in Melbourne. According to “Google” it’s about 110° right now…whew!
Have you been watching any of the Australian Open? It must be brutal playing tennis in the scorching heat…
Your son did well. I grew up in Canberra and still managed to get lost when I was driving around last month.
What did you think of the portrait gallery architecture? I believe they tried to integrate it with the High Court and NGA but I didn't think much of the use of corrugated iron.
Hi Miss L., Good to see you back. I have been watching quite a bit of tennis. I reckon they earned their money playing this year!
AR: I have to admit to not taking in the architecture of the Portrait Gallery, so can't really comment. Son did very well with the navigating - especially as we were using a Gregory's that was 8 years old!
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