It’s Not All About The Stuff!

Last week Gracie and I went to see Sam Smith.

For those of you who don’t know who Sam Smith is, according to Gracie, he is the greatest and latest, and most coolest singer EVER!

Gracie had been counting down to the concert for months……literally! She had saved up enough money for her ticket and so come the day, she was beside herself with excitement! We left home super early for our Girlie road trip to make sure we were there in plenty of time……don’t want to miss a minute of waiting in queue with the thousands of other crazy fans!

As we made our way in and found our seats, she couldn’t stop jiggling! She was so excited she couldn’t sit still and the grin on her face was from ear to ear. Yep, this was one super excited teenager!

As the auditorium went black, the screen came down and Sam came on stage, the look on Gracies’s face was priceless! She had tears in her eyes, she grabbed my arm and started screaming with all the other young girls!

This, this is what it’s all about!

As I sat next to her watching the wonder in her eyes, I knew that this is the kind of stuff that’s important. These are the moments that matter. And I get to share them with her.

You know, sometimes as parents we think we need to give our kids “stuff” The more “stuff” they have, the happier they will be. So we make their lives as comfortable as we can with as much stuff as we can and think this will make them happy!

But I have learned, that it’s not all about the stuff. Stuff comes and goes. Stuff gets broken, it gets lost, it gets old and it gets worn out. Stuff gets forgotten.

Nope, stuff isn’t as important as experience. Gracie will not forget the Sam Smith concert in a very long time, and I certainly won’t forget the look on her face, the excitement she exuded or the non-stop talking all the way home.

I cherish moments like these and count them a privilege. I know soon enough Gracie will rather go with her friends than her old Mum, and so I am making the most of these moments, cementing memories into both of us that will long surpass the stuff she has in her life!

I asked Gracie what she got for her 8th birthday and she couldn’t remember. I then asked her if she remembered walking around the lake in the rain (the same day she got her 8th birthday present!) and she could remember so much about the walk and recalled it with great animation! She couldn’t remember the stuff, but she remembered the experience!

So my encouragement to you as a parent is, forget about the stuff! Your kids don’t NEED the latest and greatest gadgets, they don’t NEED the latest clothes and they don’t NEED what all the other kids have. What they NEED are experiences. They need you to spend time with them, to invest into them and to experience all the world has to offer.