Holidays with the parentals
It's funny getting to know your parents as adults once you're an adult too.
I'm on holidays with my parents at the moment. They never really travel, so I convinced them to come to WA for two weeks and have a look around. My mum wasn't very keen. In the lead up to the flight she was getting really nervous and, among other things, freaking out about how she'd get money from the bank (she doesn't have an ATM card and there are only two St George branches in WA). I was like "chill mum, you'll still be in Australia, it's not like you're going to another country". Her response: "I don't like doing things I've never done before!"
My mum is so funny. I don't think I ever realised how timid she can be. I feel a bit sorry for her because dad and I have been making fun of her a lot, but she just makes it so easy.
We went over to Rottnest Island for a day and hired bicycles to ride around. At no point did mum mention that she hadn't ridden a bike in months and wasn't feeling very confident about it.
Within five minutes of getting off the ferry she had fallen off. It was so funny. I had ridden off towards the coffee shop from the jetty because we had decided to get coffee. It was maybe 100m away from the jetty. I stopped and got off. Then mum rides up, tries to stop and somehow manages to tumble off the bike and onto the ground. That's when I realise we've also managed to lose dad - all in 100m.
The funniest thing about mum falling off was that she did it basically at the feet of this man who was just standing there minding his own business. He was trying so hard not to laugh but then I burst out laughing and was like "Jesus mum what are you doing? And where's dad? Honestly, no offence, but going out with you two is like going out with toddlers." That might have been a bit harsh, but I was a little exasperated. Dad had wandered off to try and find somewhere to put air in his tyres.
Mum then went on to almost fall off every time she got on or off the bike. To be fair, she is short and I think the bike was a little big for her. But it certainly wasn't helped by the fact that she would try to get off before the bike had stopped moving. I just don't know what she was doing. She also had really squeaky brakes - so she'd slam on the brakes, it would make this god-awful noise, everyone in the vicinity would turn to look, then she'd half jump, half fall off the bike while it was still rolling.
There were a few times I got a bit wobbly on the bike just because I was laughing so much at her.
My parents and I haven't really spent that much time together over the past few years. I've been living a few hours away for almost 10 years now and then I was overseas and now I'm living in WA and they're in NSW. So they have funny habits that I'm not really familiar with.
My mum in particular. She does this thing where she reads signs out loud. Like, every sign. And menus.
So if you're driving along and she's in the back seat it goes something like this: "McDonalds... Chicken Treat... The fine for littering in the national park is $1000... Unleaded petrol, $1.27 a litre." And so on. And if you're in a restaurant she'll read things off the menu. Not just the dishes, I mean their descriptions and everything. Even if you're holding the same menu. Even if you're like "shut up mum, I can read".
I don't really mean that (I do mean most of it, just not the shut up part, I was more like "I don't understand why you're reading that out loud when you know I can read and you can see that I too am studying the menu").
I love my mum and dad and we're having a fab time.
I'm on holidays with my parents at the moment. They never really travel, so I convinced them to come to WA for two weeks and have a look around. My mum wasn't very keen. In the lead up to the flight she was getting really nervous and, among other things, freaking out about how she'd get money from the bank (she doesn't have an ATM card and there are only two St George branches in WA). I was like "chill mum, you'll still be in Australia, it's not like you're going to another country". Her response: "I don't like doing things I've never done before!"
My mum is so funny. I don't think I ever realised how timid she can be. I feel a bit sorry for her because dad and I have been making fun of her a lot, but she just makes it so easy.
We went over to Rottnest Island for a day and hired bicycles to ride around. At no point did mum mention that she hadn't ridden a bike in months and wasn't feeling very confident about it.
Within five minutes of getting off the ferry she had fallen off. It was so funny. I had ridden off towards the coffee shop from the jetty because we had decided to get coffee. It was maybe 100m away from the jetty. I stopped and got off. Then mum rides up, tries to stop and somehow manages to tumble off the bike and onto the ground. That's when I realise we've also managed to lose dad - all in 100m.
The funniest thing about mum falling off was that she did it basically at the feet of this man who was just standing there minding his own business. He was trying so hard not to laugh but then I burst out laughing and was like "Jesus mum what are you doing? And where's dad? Honestly, no offence, but going out with you two is like going out with toddlers." That might have been a bit harsh, but I was a little exasperated. Dad had wandered off to try and find somewhere to put air in his tyres.
Mum then went on to almost fall off every time she got on or off the bike. To be fair, she is short and I think the bike was a little big for her. But it certainly wasn't helped by the fact that she would try to get off before the bike had stopped moving. I just don't know what she was doing. She also had really squeaky brakes - so she'd slam on the brakes, it would make this god-awful noise, everyone in the vicinity would turn to look, then she'd half jump, half fall off the bike while it was still rolling.
There were a few times I got a bit wobbly on the bike just because I was laughing so much at her.
My parents and I haven't really spent that much time together over the past few years. I've been living a few hours away for almost 10 years now and then I was overseas and now I'm living in WA and they're in NSW. So they have funny habits that I'm not really familiar with.
My mum in particular. She does this thing where she reads signs out loud. Like, every sign. And menus.
So if you're driving along and she's in the back seat it goes something like this: "McDonalds... Chicken Treat... The fine for littering in the national park is $1000... Unleaded petrol, $1.27 a litre." And so on. And if you're in a restaurant she'll read things off the menu. Not just the dishes, I mean their descriptions and everything. Even if you're holding the same menu. Even if you're like "shut up mum, I can read".
I don't really mean that (I do mean most of it, just not the shut up part, I was more like "I don't understand why you're reading that out loud when you know I can read and you can see that I too am studying the menu").
I love my mum and dad and we're having a fab time.