Here are my answers to this week’s Share Your World from pensitivity101

Growing up, were you closer to your mother or father, or was it a balance of both depending on the circumstances?

When I was small I was a real Daddy’s Girl and I adored my father but I was definitely closer to my mother. To me, she was everything a mother should be and I felt sorry for the other kids because their moms were not as lovely as mine. She was a perfect mother to a teenage girl and encouraged me to reach for my dreams.

My father had a huge influence on the lives of my siblings and me. We all had to be in the lounge when he came home from work as from then until bedtime it was family time. He would talk to us about all sorts of things and was always interested in what we had been up to. He was a great storyteller and we learned many life lessons at my father’s knee. He was also an amazing grandfather and all his grandchildren adored him.

What was your favourite toy as a child, and do you still have it?

No, I don’t have any toys from my childhood. When my baby brother was born my sister and I both received life-like baby dolls for Christmas. Those dolls were our favourites for many years and did last till we were adults but I can’t remember what happened to them in the end.

All my children’s toys were donated to others when they outgrew them except for a few. My brother gave my youngest a Paddington Bear when she was nine. She is now 43 and still has it.

My girls owned wicker dolls prams and we still had them when our baby grandsons came to live with us. The girls used to play with them gently. The boys on the other hand had Teddy flying out of them as they did wheelies down the passage. The younger boy could still fit into the bigger pram and his brother would push him at a great pace around the house too. I still have the smaller pram and it is being used when my domestic helper brings her little girl to work with her. It is an absolute winner!

Did you have any secrets?

I am sure I did but I can’t remember now what they were! Oh yes – there was the time, when I was 21, and my boyfriend gave me a kitten that he had rescued from being drowned. We had a dog and my mother didn’t like cats and would definitely have said no to having yet another pet. So I hid the kitty in my bedroom and fed it in secret and hid a litterbox under the bed. After a few days, my baby brother (14) discovered my secret and ‘the cat was out of the bag!” So I had to find a home for Linus. My boyfriend and I decided to ask our friends who had a five-year-old little girl if they’d like a pet for her. We took the kitty around and knocked on the door. They couldn’t believe their eyes! Before they’d put their little one down for her nap she’d said a prayer, “Please Lord Jesus, send me a pet cat!” So when she awoke her prayer was answered!

What did you want to be when you grew up, and are you anywhere close?

I used to think about being a teacher quite a lot when I was small and loved playing ‘school-school’. Often I would say to my friends, “If I ever become a teacher, I will not do what Miss X does!” Not that any of our teachers were bad. I just thought I could do better. Anyway I never actually fixed on the idea until my last year of high school. My parents had suggested I take up subjects like accounting, typing, and shorthand so that I could go straight into a high-paying secretarial job. They were probably right – I would have been an excellent secretary and I don’t regret learning those skills but I got ‘the call’ and ended up as a very happy primary school teacher.

Gratitude:
There is something to be grateful for every day, embrace it.

It certainly is a feeling. Every so often feelings of gratitude overcome me like when I look at our beautiful little harbour, walk along the long white sands of our beach, watch the sunset after a perfect day, and have a sushi supper at the harbour restaurant. I am so privileged to live in this beautiful safe little town at the southern tip of Africa. Priceless.