Rory Gibson: For many years parenting is a grind then magic happens

When it comes to receiving presents from my children I normally get an IOU. So you can imagine the surprise when this happened, writes Rory Gibson.

A remarkable thing just happened - one of my sons gave me a Christmas present.

Sure, it’s February, but who am I to quibble about dates?

The important thing is that I have the gift in my possession.

Normally I get an IOU. I have a drawer full of them, sitting there loaded with promises of lawn-mowing or car-washing among the hastily illustrated Christmas “cards” made out of folded A4 paper that are so cute when your kid is five but lack a certain seasonal elan when the sprogs have hit their twenties.

I don’t mind - I’m not much of a present-giver myself, preferring to pay the boys’ rego or car insurance as a gift instead of forking out for a shirt they’ll never wear. Just having them around to drink the beer Santa leaves in the fridge is all the joy I need.

So expectations of original gifts are low when Christmas rolls around, and this last Yule was no exception.

Columnist Rory Gibson.

My youngest boy, nearing the end of a carpentry apprenticeship, gave me an IOU. “I’m going to make you a golf putting green for your veranda, Dad,” he declared, showing me a photograph of a prototype. “Do you want one that folds up or is one piece?”

I ordered the folding type, not believing for a second that such a fine accessory for a man’s veranda would ever grace mine. It’s the thought that counts after all, and it gave me great comfort that the promised but sure-to-be-mythical present was one I’d actually like.

Except the young fella turned up last weekend with a folding putting green, covered in fake grass, just like he said he would. Made by him alone, it works a treat. I’ve never felt so known.

For many years, parenting is a grind. We all know it. But then magic happens … your children morph into real people instead of energy-sucking time leeches. They become great company, they make you proud, they do productive things.

And instead of giving you an IOU, they hand back love.

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