July 12. Day 193. Jumping for joy

“I’ve got a bone to pick with you,” my mother will say jokingly before going on to outline some offspring neglect I have made her endure. What follows will be some outrageous tale of a ridiculous thing one of her friends’ kids did for his or her Mum. “You know Tina’s kids bought her a trip to Antarctica for her birthday,” Mum will bait. “But Mum,” I reply. “You hate the cold. Well, Mum, I have a bone to pick with you. I can’t remember what you bought for me for my 14^th birthday but I know it must have been lame because I know what it wasn’t. You did not buy me a tandem sky diving adventure. Tyler’s Mum did because today I saw him land on Coolum beach with all his family waiting on the sand to cheer him on. What a magnificent thing to do to mark turning 14. His Mum told me that she was 40 before she gave sky diving a go and loved it so much she was keen to share the thrill with Tyler when he expressed an interest. He looked totally blown away by the experience. Best. Birthday. Present. Ever. I have tried sky diving twice – the first time I was 24 and the second time 29. Many will say there is no good reason to voluntarily throw yourself out of an aircraft in perfect working order but if you are a thrill seeker there really is nothing to match the rush of the experience. Still, I have never considered inviting my teen to have a go (there are days I might have liked to throw him out of a plane without a parachute, but I digress). But having seen Tyler today I asked Drama Teen what he thought. He was not interested. Instead we decided to land on the beach on foot with my best birthday present ever, the fur friend Rumple. On the beach, we don’t need a chute to soar.