Thigh high

Wouldn’t we all kill for legs like these! That’s all!

Agony aunt? I don’t think so!

Forget being an agony aunt, a savvy auntie is much more fun!

My auntie & I about 24yrs ago!

For as long as I can remember having an auntie meant having this cool older person to take you out and to go and stay with during the school holidays. They were old enough to be trusted with you without giving you the ‘I’ll tell you what to do’ mum vibe!

I have 2 younger cousins 6 and 3 so I’m kinda more like their auntie than cousin and I inherited 2 nephews and a niece from my other half.  (Much to my other half’s disgust our niece would much rather hang out with me! I think me being a girl with jewellery and “precious precious things” as she so cutely puts it kinda helps!)

I find myself getting very excited prior to each visit with any of the little people in our families! For a person with very little patience I could sit for hours with our niece and put the dolls to bed, wake them up and… well you know how it keeps going!

The conversations you can have with a 2 year old completely amaze me! I got the run down a few weeks ago from our niece about how the new baby (her mum is due in about 6weeks) was “moving in”. Yep the baby is “moving into the room next door”. So very grown up and so very matter of fact! When asked if she was ready to hop out of the bath she replied “Goodo”! It was hysterical and a reminder to watch what we say around kids – she tells me she got that word from her mum!

I haven’t even got started on my cousin who I’m convinced will grow up to be Prime Minister and his super cheeky and imaginative little brother, not to mention our nephew nearly 4 who seems to become more grown up every visit and his cool dude little brother who just seems to take everything in! Listen to me, gosh I could just gush all day but I won’t!

So being an auntie really is a great privilege. It’s kind of like fun parenting 101 with only a few dirty nappies along the way (unless you’re Uncle John and you’ve managed to avoid a nappy change all together!)

It feels like only yesterday for me that I was off again on school holidays to hang out with my cool auntie and uncle in Sydney! So enjoy being an auntie, because they do grow up so quickly.

I recently came across a fanastic website www.savvyauntie.com. Unfortunately it is American so not all the information applies to us, however some of the other ideas on there is fantastic.

Morals and opinions, same same?

Over the past couple of weeks the subject of morals has risen on more than one occasion. It was a hot topic in relation to the Matthew Johns NRL ‘scandal’ and has now been bought up again with recent discussion in the media on gay marriage.

Time and time again we heard that what Matthew Johns did was ‘morally wrong’ and no crime was committed. I personally agree that group sex and other bits and pieces of the scandal yes were morally wrong, but they are my morals.

In a way a person’s morals are just like their opinion, well actually they are their opinion. Morals are not a legal thing that we must abide by in the eyes of the law, they are different from person to person and as a persons opinion will differ so will their morals.

So on the ever debated gay marriage subject it is no different here. Someone may believe, based on their morals, that being gay is wrong. Some will believe in freedom of choice, based on their morals. I personally believe in freedom and choice and if someone is gay then so be it. I’m in a heterosexual relationship. It is no different, and that’s my opinion/choice.

So once again for all those people who are way up there on their high horse, maybe take a minute to take a step back. How would you feel if someone imposed their moral thinking/opinions on your life and how you live it. I guarantee you wouldn’t enjoy it at all. I’m not for one minute saying that we should all have the same morals/opinions, my what a boring world that would be, but a little bit of respect and a little of let’s agree to disagree would certainly go a long way.

It’s about time marriage was available to everybody. It should be an act to show 2 people’s love for each other whoever those 2 people happen to be.

As I was writing this piece I came across a story on morals in the media. While I don’t want to keep going back to the NRL story it’s envitably going to hang around for a while so here’s the story. Do you agree? Should the ‘media’ be allowed to push what they perceive to be the ‘morals’ of everyone or should it be left entirely up to the viewer?

From www.smh.com.au. Story link: http://tinyurl.com/qazo3n

Footy scandal throws spotlight on media

May 18, 2009

There are some important questions that need to be asked of Four Corners, not least its moralising, writes Michael Idato.

A week in television is a long time. Last week, however, felt like a year. The upshot of Four Corners’ excoriation of the NRL and Channel Nine’s decision to stand down Matthew Johns, the high-profile former footballer and Footy Show presenter at the centre of the resulting media storm, is that one of Australia’s oldest sporting codes faces some serious questions about its culture and future.