Oh, man - these kids are getting the farm I always wanted and there are two pretty ponies in the paddock here for them! Ok, so we didn't get the farm for them because we missed out as children, we got the farm for our own sakes and by default, the kids are getting what both of us wanted as kids. The ponies are my wish for them to have what I couldn't have, though
My kids are also getting a childhood free of punishments and rewards. No friggin star charts.
And they get cousins and grandparents and an uncle in the same state of the same country of the same hemisphere as they are in. Novel, I know! I grew up with very little socialisation, and only letters from interested aunts and my step-grandmother, and later from my cousin (who now lives in Melb), all in Ireland. I never knew my mum's side of the family until I was in my 20s, not even by letter. So, my kids get extended family, as well as a farm and ponies.
They get a dad who doesn't work away from home for weeks at a time. I know what that feels like and I will not encourage DP to get a FIFO job no matter what it pays. Wishing your dad was joking about missing your birthday or Christmas is not fun. And we knew it hurt him, too.
There are things I wish never happened when I was a kid and there's a whole stack of things I want to replicate and do replicate (hugs, "I love you's", co-sleeping, varied nightly meals, bilinguilism, the great outdoors).
The post by Luly threw me, too.