birthdays...

My lovely older daughter turned 13 today.

In her eyes a major milestone and also in our eyes.She feels like she is on the verge of a very exciting life.....so do we, but its just possible that the excitement is different for us all.She wants to stay in England and be with her friends.I understand that.We are fortunate to live in a good place in Yorkshire and the children have got some lovely friends but they are getting older and I think its imperative to show them a different way to live before they leave home .Already they are aiming to become corporate workers at some time in their future....they are becoming disdainful about the idea of growing food ,tending the land ,building a beautiful home and being concious of their own footprints on the planet.They NEED nintendos ,ipods ,computers etc...(I do want us to be able to power computers actually) can't live without all the gadgets of modern times blah, blah, blah

BUT last night my daughters friends organised a surprise birthday disco and after half an hour the stereo stopped working .The thirty kids in this big hall just entertained themselves ,(no music ,screen to do it ).They sang and played games and really had a good night.My daughter describes it as the best night of her life!This time 13 years ago I spent the night awake just watching her and wanting a wonderful life for her.So far its been ok ,nothing too bad has happened but I know that to give her the wonderful life I need to share the experience of Portugal with her and give her the opportunity to learn who she is without all the distraction that our very western lifestyle throws up.Fingers crossed we will be there by spring..