“BUBS” & CHANGES : A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES….

By Colin Walker

s any parents, grandparents, or greatgrandparents will tell you, a new baby – either impending or just “arrived” – remains the biggest news there is in most families, just about any time.

Nothing changes the routine of just how we live than everything to do with the arrival of a “new mouth to feed”. Ask any parent (especially first-timers).

Current dramas in local, national or world news pale into relative insignificance, compared with the marking of a new notch in the family tree.

So in our particular family, this year is something very special….one in which we welcome two new great grandchildren into our lives and our homes….and once again, the sparkle and promise that they bring makes this a “very good year”, irrespective of all else.

In most households and families, nothing else that may emerge in the rest of the year is likely to top these life-changing events in our busy and ever-changing communities and society, all around the country.

And on the more personal side, they also present us with a host of reasons to delve into normally private family memory banks….to compare these happy events (and the changes they bring) with how things were in our “good old days” …. or the bad old days, depending on how we view past events, circumstances, and changes.

Understandably, many of today’s younger and middleaged generations have become somewhat blasé about the range and impact of change in our modern-day Aussie society. But factually and historically, it has been nothing short of amazing. In my lifetime, it has spanned the era from the horse and buggy days to the present times of space travel, great advances in medical science which have prolonged life for most of us, and technological change which is almost akin to a new religion to some…. but a curse to others.

Most of us today have come to expect a change in just about every theatre of our lives – and in most cases, we embrace it. However, whether all the changes are and have been for the better or worse in our growing and widening multicultural society is open to debate. But realistically, change is inevitable, and we have to confront it, use it and accept it, sensibly.

But when it comes to “baby time” and new arrivals in the family, these are the memories that remain with us the longest and give us the most pleasure…. most times.

All of our offspring arrived at times when hospital maternity delivery areas were strictly off-limits to males (except for medical staff). Few of us got to actually witness the birth (except home births, obviously).

Today, many dads (and/ or parents) sit through the whole delivery process…. and for those who do, it is an eye-opener. There is simply nothing like it – and it gives us (mere males) a new and/ or heightened respect for those “delivering the goods” …. the mums.

Personally, as one of those mere males, I remember more than anything the quirky things our kids do – and say – during the young maturing stages of their lives. Some of the questions and quotes which remain entrenched and treasured memories include.

*“How much are you paid for being old, Granddad?”. (The pension issue, simplified, through the eyes of a grandson).

* A teary question…. “Will you still be my friend?” (After scolding our very young daughter).

* “Why don’t you and grandma have more babies of your own, Granddad?

* “Why do they call you grumpy, granddad?” ….. and the classic perennial,

* “Where do babies come from, granddad? (a real “tester”, for every mum and dad.)

AH…. The memories ….. priceless!