30 days of being a real parent

Last year, one of my dearest and oldest friends gave me "the gift that keeps giving" - a magazine subscription.

It was decadence. Every month I knew that I had a date in my bathtub with the latest installment; where I could think about nothing else than the perfect pictures and homely ideas in that magazine.

In one of my monthly indulgences I came across an article called 365 Reasons To Be Grateful. It was a woman's personal project for which every day for one year she took a single Polaroid photograph of something she was grateful for.

It was pure genius. I loved the idea.

Except I didn't have a Polaroid camera.

Then, on the 1st of January, a good friend (who lives in Mongolia, no less) started her 365 Days of Gratitude project on Facebook using her digital camera.

I couldn't believe she stole my idea.

Well, okay. She probably read the same article.

But damn her for doing it first.

Then as I usually do, I began thinking of reasons not to do the project myself. Could I really take a photo for every day of the year? What if I forgot my camera? What if I ran out of things to be grateful for? Perhaps my photos won't be good enough. I really don't have the time...

Then a friend said, just try a month.

I could do that.

And then it hit me. With all the action my boys have partaken of lately, why don't I do it on being a parent - with all the real stuff.

So, I've decided as my duty to the community who read this blog (albeit, a teeny tiny one), the whole of April is dedicated to this very cause.

Welcome to 30 days of being a real parent.

This ought to be a little bit of fun at least.