Sunday Scribblings "Tattoo"

My three kids, whodathought?

G'Day,
My two sons do not have a tattoo. My husband Peter does not have a tattoo. I do not have a tattoo. But.....my baby girl, my daughter, Anne-Marie does have a tattoo. She was 19 when she had it done.
I was soooooo shocked the first time I saw it. We had just moved here to Canberra and she was enjoying a dip in the spa out the back yard with her then boyfriend and when she got out of the spa. Oh My God!
Annie's tattoo is a large coloured drawing of a fairy with a devils tail wrapped around it and horns on its head. It is probably14 inches or so long and covers all of her side. (She is a skinny mini girl, not like her Mum.) It's middle is in line with her waist. It is huge. The theme sort of suits her. She is a bit like that, but I am proud of her being such an individual personality and not one of those silly little dolly birds who feel a compulsion to follow the crowds and fit into the norm. I like that about her and am proud that my kids think for themselves rather than be followers.
I was so shocked when I saw it I didn't say a word, but retreated to my bedroom and curled up on the bed. She followed me in after a few minutes and talked to me about it. Let me tell you, it sure took some getting used to. Her boyfriend's brother did the art work on it, he is quite an artist. He did it free hand and it is one of a kind.
But...all I could think of was "Oh my baby is marked for life", and "Only certain types of girls have tattoos on them".
I have of course got over the shock now and can see by looking at it that it is a well done piece of art in itself and the value in it, but boy was I shocked to start with. She had actually been hiding it from me for about 6 months before I saw it.
As you can guess by my reaction to her tattoo I was not a fan of such things. But now..... Maybe she has taught her Mum something. I don't know if I would have a tattoo done on my own skin but if I did, I think that it would be something that says something about me. Something that says something about who I am and where I come from. Something that says I am proud to be an Aussie, a potter, a amateur environmentalist. I dunno.
If you have read my blog for a while you might remember on old post where I made up (sort of botanical) names for myself and some of my friends. My name was Australis Robustus Clayii. I liked that. It might make a good tattoo. Well... I guess not because nobody would know what the hell I was talking about, he he. Explanation....I am Australian, proudly so. I am reasonably resilient, hence the robustus bit and I play in clay.
I always though that tattoos were something that tough bikie type blokes or sailors had done, not sweet little daughters like my baby.
Tattoos though. I can see where they provide their recipients with a sense of individuality, permanent decoration, identification, artistic expression, tribal belonging, to name a few.
I remember the Italian ice man being discovered. So long after his death, entombed in ice and still presenting his tattoos in his mummified state. Amazing! I guess my old story about archaeologists discovering pottery thousands of years old which still held the makers individual finger prints on its surface. A long lasting signature of the maker. I always loved that and wondered if one day a such a person might find something I have made with my finger prints on it.....and wondered. Sort of links it with tattoos doesn't it.

I just thought. I remember once when I was in my early teens my sister was going out with a young bloke in the navy. He had a tattoo of a pair of eyes on his bum. Oh my! I can't remember his name, oh yes his nick name was Rusty, but I remember that tattoo, even though he wouldn't show it to me. He he he he.

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Other news. We have a house. It is in the suburb of Curtin which is in an older area of Canberra that this but is supposed to be a nice area. It is not as big or as good a house as this one but.... ah well there you go..... we have to move anyway. It is a 1960's style house, 4 bedrooms, smaller back yard but it has rose gardens for me to play with. Should be good. Close to the local shops and closer to the city than this place. One problem though, I don't know if there is enough parking, and we are not supposed to park on the grass, so at least one of the three cars in our household will have to park out on the roadside. Then there is the caravan.
We will adjust, adapt, blah blah blah!
Our moving date is 25Th of September hopefully, all being well. Cross your fingers for me. I don't even know if they have Internet wiring in the house, but we will find out and adapt that too.
Packing and reorganizing and culling of all our goods and shackles is under way. There is so much to do.
Since I have been talking about my sweet baby daughter tonight I though I would add what I found in the garage while looking and culling things from some boxes today. I found one of her very first school books. She was in kindergarten and six years old when she wrote these stories. Just adorable. Most of the stories in the book were about going to the pool, riding her bike, visiting Nan's house or going shopping. But then.... so funny... I wonder what the teacher thought. There where several stories of seeing her elder cousin, my niece Cassie with her first boyfriend, kiss on the lounge. She thought that was great. And one where they were wrestling and tripped each other and fell off the lounge. So funny the way kids see the world. Love the sense of wonder and romance.
I also found a story book my second son David wrote about a gorilla that won an award and was published and sent down to Sydney to Taronga park zoo on display. Smart little kid my David. He was so funny when he was a little bloke. He used to memorize things long before he could read and if I swapped a word or two around out of his favourite story books when I was reading them to him he would be most indignant and quickly correct me. Of course I thought it a great joke and would change the stories around deliberately. Both my boys knew all the alphabet by sight and sound before they went to school and that gave them a head start. I didn't get to do that with Annie as much because I had started back in employment but that didn't seem to hold her back much, she did o.k. and still does. Mum's are allowed to brag! Did I tell you she got a distinction recently in philosophy at university. Brag brag.
Then I remembered when my eldest son Mike took his work book to school and wrote in it to his teacher that he wanted her to give him ticks because he already knew he had all the answers right. Hahahahaha. She wrote back in the book to him "I decide when to give the ticks Michael!"Love it.
A life time of memories that I put back in the box and packed away. How could a mother bare to throw all that stuff out. Tatoos on my heart.
See there is an upside to moving house.
Good night.
Love Linda.