20 Things A Mother Should Tell Her Son

I saw this today, and want to repost it here for Sean. One day, little man, I will show you this list, and hope you will take heed.

1. Play a sport. It will teach you how to win honourably, lose gracefully, respect authority, work with others, manage your time and stay out of trouble. And maybe even throw or catch or kick.

2. You will set the tone for the sexual relationship, so don't take something away from her that you can't give back.

3. Use careful aim when you pee. Somebody's got to clean that up, you know.

4. Save money when you're young because you're going to need it some day.

5. Allow me to introduce you to the dishwasher, oven, washing machine, iron, vacuum, mop and broom. Now please go use them.

6. Always treat people with the respect you wish to be treated with.

7. Don't ever be a bully and don't ever start a fight, but if some idiot clocks you, please defend yourself.

8. Your knowledge and education is something that nobody can take away from you.

9. Treat women kindly. Forever is a long time to live alone and it's even longer to live with somebody who hates your guts.

10. Take pride in your appearance.

11. Be strong and tender at the same time.

12. A woman can do everything that you can do. This includes her having a successful career and you changing nappies at 3 AM. Mutual respect is the key to a good relationship.

13. "Yes ma'am" and "yes sir" still go a long way.

14. The reason that they're called "private parts" is because they're "private". Please do not scratch them in public.

15. Peer pressure is a scary thing. Be a good leader and others will follow.

16. Bringing her flowers for no reason is always a good idea.

17. It is better to be kind than to be right.

18. A sense of humour goes a long way in the healing process.

19. Please choose your spouse wisely. My daughter-in-law will be the gatekeeper for me spending time with you and my grandchildren.

20. Remember to call your mother because I might be missing you.

Welcome, 2013!

Good riddance, 2012!

Thank goodness we will never see 2012 ever again. It was a year full of difficult challenges and incredible heartache. There were some joyful moments too, and we are certainly hoping for a year full of joyful moments and events.

Not only did we face our own incredible SCID journey in 2012, we also suffered the loss of our friends' tiny little man, Lucas James, who was born sleeping at 28 weeks. Our darling friends Lissy and David had been our rock solid support team during Sean's hospital stays, so it was utterly devastating when we learned the shattering news. We wish Lissy and David the very best life has to offer in 2013 and beyond, with Baby Boy #2 due in late April 2013.

In years past, I've made new year's resolutions that I've not kept, or ones I knew I wouldn't be able to keep. However, in light of everything we faced in 2012, I thought I would make a small list of resolutions that I fully intend to keep throughout 2013.

1. Be happy.
2. Be healthy.
3. Stop sweating the small stuff.
4. Read more.
5. Write more.
6. Learn about different cuisines in Sydney.

No. 1 will force me to focus on what is good in my life. I have a great life. I have a fantastic husband, a now very healthy 2 year old son, a job that I love mainly because of the awesome people I work with, a roof over my head, food on the table every day, and clothes on my back. I need to focus on the positives, and try to stop focusing on the negative.

No. 2 will hopefully get me off my butt and get back into some sort of exercise. The past 12 months has seen me drop off my exercise regime, and my body has suffered as a consequence. Jonathan has too, and we both now need to lose a bit of weight and start living more healthily, especially since we have a very active 2 year old to chase after!

No. 3 will force me to stop dwelling on the crap that the Evil Witch continues to throw at us. I have to remember that nothing will ever make her truly happy, or at least happy enough to leave us alone. She will always complain about something, and no matter how much we do, we will always be the bad guys. We will do the bare minimum to keep the situation civil, and that's it.

No. 4 will hopefully see me read at least 20 books this year. In about September last year, I started reading a bit more than I had all through 2012, and I found I had missed reading. A lot. In the last few weeks of 2012, I devoured The Hunger Games series. I read Catching Fire in 48 hours! I've started reading the Jack Reacher novels by Lee Child, mainly because Jonathan was interested in reading this series before we saw the film.

No. 5 will hopefully see me blog a little more frequently in 2013. I dropped off with the blogging once Sean hit Day +100, as we were finally able to socialise with people again and return to the routine we had prior to Sean's diagnosis. So, many apologies for choosing to live life and not write about it! I will try to do weekly updates this year.

No. 6 will hopefully see us dine in restaurants all over Sydney in our pursuit of good food in different cuisines. SBS has been showing the Food Safari series again, and it got me thinking about all the different cuisines that are available in our wonderful city. I'd like to able to know where to take our overseas visitors (especially my uncles and aunties and cousins) to sample all sorts of different and exotic foods. Sure, we know where to get good Chinese food, and we know a few good Japanese places, and we are seasoned visitors to the Sydney Fish Markets for fresh seafood, but as far as any other cuisines are concerned, we have no idea. So the plan is this: once a month, we select a cuisine we would like to sample, find a restaurant that has some authentic dishes, and go and eat good food. We have enlisted some good friends to join us already, and to be honest, the more people who come along to The Hills' Food Safari, the better, as we will be able to sample more food with a bigger group of people!

Six simple resolutions. Shouldn't be too hard to keep, right?

Wishing you all an amazing 2013, and hope this year is good to you too.