My Family and Some Other Animals
Without Prejudice
I always felt like my family was like the family in "My Family And Other Animals", eccentric, funny, driven, snobby and intelligent. My parents were well educated people and shared a focus. Their children. Dad had his music and Mum had her enormous brain and her class distinction.
I was just a shy little girl who loved them all, everyone. I took the blame for others so they wouldn't get in trouble. I was soft hearted. And I was lucky enough to be loved and accepted for who I was. And my family has no bother in telling me even now, what a little "Lauren" I was.
I just wanted everyone to be happy and not stressed. I still want to make people feel good about themselves. As I feel incredibly lucky I had a foundation that was rock solid. Mum and Dad around and a loving strict upbringing. That was the way it was and I was lucky to have that.
Some people don't and that makes for a shaky foundation. If parents don't unconditionally love their child due to ignorance or lack of education then there can be problems. if the parents are soft and not strict then there are problems. Trying to find the right balance doesn't always come easily.
But my parents had worked out before we came along what they wanted and it was lots of kids. Mum was the mover and shaker and Dad was the placid funny one. Dry witted and highly intelligent it was rare to see him lose his temper.
Mum would lose her temper at the drop of a hat and would not, could not tolerate fools. She was beyond intelligent, she had to be genius level.
And when I was growing up, like a lot of migrants, my parents were committed in seeing their children excel and be accepted in their new country. Thinking back that was an enormous thing my parents did, by emigrating.
Leaving behind everything thing they had ever known and coming to a brand new country. I can't imagine taking that sort of leap, leaving behind family and friends, but it was post war Britain.
And at that time big ads placed in Newspapers in the OK invited immigrants to the lucky country. A big Sun featured in one and at that time my oldest brother had chronic catarrh. Ian, 12 was sick all the time in cold wintry Edinburgh, so my parents apllied for the ten pound pom scheme.
And to their delight were accepted, and they emigrated with their 5 small children on the SS Otranto, a passenger ship, when I was 2. Ian was 9, Jamie, 8, Jackie, 6, George 4 and me 2. And I can only remember from Adelaide on but thats pretty good, given my age.
When I think back to that time I was pretty scared and shy and maybe that was to do with the new surroundings. When we came back again to Australia in 68 Helen was 2 and she screamed the ship down.
2 year olds usually in a strict routine of eat, play, sleep and hate their routine disrupted. By 1957 I had a soft toy I clung to, called Gooby from the film The Shiralee and Peter Finch was one of my first idols.
The Shiralee, an English film shot in Australia and how a "Swaggie", played by Peter Finch is given his daughter to look after. Buster, the daughter, was a tiny child of about 4 as I was then.
She had a gooby doll. And I had a gooby doll, my security blanket. I loved Gooby and heaven help the household of a 2 year old if their toy gets left somewhere or seems lost.
I must have taken up Gooby after my brother Jamie died. I remember it was a soft toy of raggy appearance and my oldest sister thought I was a big baby for having it. But she was 9 almost 10 then to my 5.
We have a shy one in this family too. Kyan, he is shy, Bright and shy. I try and make him into a tougher version as I don't want kids to pick on him. Thats a sad but true statement.
But to survive in the world of hard knocks he has to be able to stand up for himself. Shyness seems to go hand in hand with anxiety and sensitivity and I don't want him to grow up like that.
Shyness is an extreme example of self conciousness anyway and I have been fighting it all my life. I have learned to handle it, I hope, but sometimes extreme anxiety will cause you to snap.
It has to be ignored as much as possible and meditation and positive thinking definitely helps. As does hanging around with positive happy people. That works like a charm, as does not taking life too seriously.
And being grateful for what you have and making the most of it.
My whole family are positive thinkers and we nourish each other. Ian is now the Patriach and we are all in awe of his intellect as we always were. Jackie next and she is a fierce mother and grandmother, just like me. No one messes with her and rightly so, she will take you down in a minute and feel no remorse, saying,
"He or she is Nothing to me ", I admire that sort of reasoning as mum was the same. Mum was a total snob but in a good way, she thought better and therefore was better.
She trusted no one and gave nothing away. She could be scathing in her criticism and was not a "touchy feely", Mother at all and Jackie hung around Mum more and I hung off Dad and the boys.
Therefore Jackie was tougher like Mum and I was soft like Dad. I read an article yesterday that said the intelligence in kids is higher with better educated parents. And the genetics come from the male, so thanks Dad.
He had his faults just like all men he carried a burden, his Shiralee.
To Be continued
I always felt like my family was like the family in "My Family And Other Animals", eccentric, funny, driven, snobby and intelligent. My parents were well educated people and shared a focus. Their children. Dad had his music and Mum had her enormous brain and her class distinction.
I was just a shy little girl who loved them all, everyone. I took the blame for others so they wouldn't get in trouble. I was soft hearted. And I was lucky enough to be loved and accepted for who I was. And my family has no bother in telling me even now, what a little "Lauren" I was.
I just wanted everyone to be happy and not stressed. I still want to make people feel good about themselves. As I feel incredibly lucky I had a foundation that was rock solid. Mum and Dad around and a loving strict upbringing. That was the way it was and I was lucky to have that.
Some people don't and that makes for a shaky foundation. If parents don't unconditionally love their child due to ignorance or lack of education then there can be problems. if the parents are soft and not strict then there are problems. Trying to find the right balance doesn't always come easily.
But my parents had worked out before we came along what they wanted and it was lots of kids. Mum was the mover and shaker and Dad was the placid funny one. Dry witted and highly intelligent it was rare to see him lose his temper.
Mum would lose her temper at the drop of a hat and would not, could not tolerate fools. She was beyond intelligent, she had to be genius level.
And when I was growing up, like a lot of migrants, my parents were committed in seeing their children excel and be accepted in their new country. Thinking back that was an enormous thing my parents did, by emigrating.
Leaving behind everything thing they had ever known and coming to a brand new country. I can't imagine taking that sort of leap, leaving behind family and friends, but it was post war Britain.
And at that time big ads placed in Newspapers in the OK invited immigrants to the lucky country. A big Sun featured in one and at that time my oldest brother had chronic catarrh. Ian, 12 was sick all the time in cold wintry Edinburgh, so my parents apllied for the ten pound pom scheme.
And to their delight were accepted, and they emigrated with their 5 small children on the SS Otranto, a passenger ship, when I was 2. Ian was 9, Jamie, 8, Jackie, 6, George 4 and me 2. And I can only remember from Adelaide on but thats pretty good, given my age.
When I think back to that time I was pretty scared and shy and maybe that was to do with the new surroundings. When we came back again to Australia in 68 Helen was 2 and she screamed the ship down.
2 year olds usually in a strict routine of eat, play, sleep and hate their routine disrupted. By 1957 I had a soft toy I clung to, called Gooby from the film The Shiralee and Peter Finch was one of my first idols.
The Shiralee, an English film shot in Australia and how a "Swaggie", played by Peter Finch is given his daughter to look after. Buster, the daughter, was a tiny child of about 4 as I was then.
She had a gooby doll. And I had a gooby doll, my security blanket. I loved Gooby and heaven help the household of a 2 year old if their toy gets left somewhere or seems lost.
I must have taken up Gooby after my brother Jamie died. I remember it was a soft toy of raggy appearance and my oldest sister thought I was a big baby for having it. But she was 9 almost 10 then to my 5.
We have a shy one in this family too. Kyan, he is shy, Bright and shy. I try and make him into a tougher version as I don't want kids to pick on him. Thats a sad but true statement.
But to survive in the world of hard knocks he has to be able to stand up for himself. Shyness seems to go hand in hand with anxiety and sensitivity and I don't want him to grow up like that.
Shyness is an extreme example of self conciousness anyway and I have been fighting it all my life. I have learned to handle it, I hope, but sometimes extreme anxiety will cause you to snap.
It has to be ignored as much as possible and meditation and positive thinking definitely helps. As does hanging around with positive happy people. That works like a charm, as does not taking life too seriously.
And being grateful for what you have and making the most of it.
My whole family are positive thinkers and we nourish each other. Ian is now the Patriach and we are all in awe of his intellect as we always were. Jackie next and she is a fierce mother and grandmother, just like me. No one messes with her and rightly so, she will take you down in a minute and feel no remorse, saying,
"He or she is Nothing to me ", I admire that sort of reasoning as mum was the same. Mum was a total snob but in a good way, she thought better and therefore was better.
She trusted no one and gave nothing away. She could be scathing in her criticism and was not a "touchy feely", Mother at all and Jackie hung around Mum more and I hung off Dad and the boys.
Therefore Jackie was tougher like Mum and I was soft like Dad. I read an article yesterday that said the intelligence in kids is higher with better educated parents. And the genetics come from the male, so thanks Dad.
He had his faults just like all men he carried a burden, his Shiralee.
To Be continued
