1 00:00:07,133 --> 00:00:10,453 Speaker 1: You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast 2 00:00:10,573 --> 00:00:11,693 Speaker 1: from News Talks at be. 3 00:00:12,893 --> 00:00:16,653 Speaker 2: It's less than a month now to my son's first birthday. 4 00:00:16,973 --> 00:00:20,173 Speaker 2: Oh okay, I know the cliches are true. It goes 5 00:00:20,213 --> 00:00:24,053 Speaker 2: so fast, and Honestly, whenever anyone asks me about my 6 00:00:24,133 --> 00:00:26,933 Speaker 2: experience of becoming a father, I just I feel like 7 00:00:27,093 --> 00:00:31,813 Speaker 2: I have nothing new to offer the tens of thousands 8 00:00:31,893 --> 00:00:37,133 Speaker 2: of years of established observations and discourse. I just feel 9 00:00:37,373 --> 00:00:41,293 Speaker 2: I always say, I just feel like all the cliches 10 00:00:41,453 --> 00:00:45,413 Speaker 2: are true. The intensity of the love, that's true. The 11 00:00:45,613 --> 00:00:49,013 Speaker 2: joy is true, the exhaustion is true. Just how quickly 12 00:00:49,053 --> 00:00:51,933 Speaker 2: it all goes Yep, that's true too. It is all true. 13 00:00:52,013 --> 00:00:56,573 Speaker 2: Everything is true. But one of the things I've come 14 00:00:56,613 --> 00:01:02,853 Speaker 2: to appreciate more, I think, is the difference between theory 15 00:01:02,893 --> 00:01:06,893 Speaker 2: and experience. So the stuff that I knew you about 16 00:01:06,933 --> 00:01:11,573 Speaker 2: parenting before becoming a parent, you know, I understood the theory, 17 00:01:12,293 --> 00:01:17,133 Speaker 2: but it's taken experiencing it to properly get it. Do 18 00:01:17,213 --> 00:01:21,253 Speaker 2: you know what I mean, like to really appreciate it 19 00:01:21,293 --> 00:01:26,493 Speaker 2: in my marrow if you like. Case in point, newborn 20 00:01:26,533 --> 00:01:33,853 Speaker 2: babies almost never look very good. They're always a bit squished, right, 21 00:01:33,893 --> 00:01:36,653 Speaker 2: a bit alien. They always look a bit like a 22 00:01:36,813 --> 00:01:41,333 Speaker 2: like a like a bald marsupial or something. And yet 23 00:01:41,453 --> 00:01:44,733 Speaker 2: when you're a new parent, you're sure that your baby 24 00:01:44,773 --> 00:01:48,853 Speaker 2: is different, perfect and symmetrical and gorgeous in every way. 25 00:01:49,493 --> 00:01:52,373 Speaker 2: Now I knew this before I had our son. I'd 26 00:01:52,373 --> 00:01:56,653 Speaker 2: observed the phenomenon in close friends. And yet when our 27 00:01:56,773 --> 00:02:02,813 Speaker 2: boy arrived, I was convinced, Oh, he really is gorgeous. 28 00:02:03,533 --> 00:02:05,933 Speaker 2: I thought, I know it's a thing, but you know, 29 00:02:06,053 --> 00:02:09,493 Speaker 2: I know new parents get new parents' goggles, but this 30 00:02:09,613 --> 00:02:14,093 Speaker 2: is different. This is definitely different, I thought. Eleven months on, 31 00:02:14,253 --> 00:02:18,573 Speaker 2: I look back, and I've sobered up a bit. In 32 00:02:18,613 --> 00:02:24,253 Speaker 2: the photos he looks like a newborn. But it took 33 00:02:24,453 --> 00:02:27,573 Speaker 2: experiencing that to properly get it. 34 00:02:29,293 --> 00:02:29,573 Speaker 1: Now. 35 00:02:30,973 --> 00:02:33,093 Speaker 2: I would love for this to be a funny little story, 36 00:02:34,173 --> 00:02:37,133 Speaker 2: but sadly it's not. I just wanted to use that 37 00:02:37,293 --> 00:02:42,453 Speaker 2: point to illustrate something else. Before having our boy, other 38 00:02:42,533 --> 00:02:46,733 Speaker 2: parents told me how having a child changed the way 39 00:02:46,773 --> 00:02:51,493 Speaker 2: they felt when they heard about accidents or tragedies affecting 40 00:02:51,573 --> 00:02:55,093 Speaker 2: children in the news. And I could understand it, but 41 00:02:55,173 --> 00:02:58,773 Speaker 2: I couldn't understand it, if you know what I mean. 42 00:03:00,333 --> 00:03:04,253 Speaker 2: And this last year I have really noticed the change. 43 00:03:04,453 --> 00:03:06,813 Speaker 2: For someone who has worked in news all of his life, 44 00:03:06,893 --> 00:03:10,933 Speaker 2: It's quite something. It's quite affecting. And this morning I 45 00:03:11,053 --> 00:03:14,973 Speaker 2: just cannot stop thinking of the poor families at Mount Monganui, 46 00:03:15,453 --> 00:03:18,053 Speaker 2: especially the parents of the young people who are still missing. 47 00:03:20,013 --> 00:03:23,573 Speaker 2: Could there be a more iconic Hiwe campground, a happier 48 00:03:23,653 --> 00:03:28,533 Speaker 2: summer spot. The response effort is ongoing this morning, but 49 00:03:29,053 --> 00:03:33,173 Speaker 2: just the thought of those families enjoying a summer holiday 50 00:03:33,213 --> 00:03:35,493 Speaker 2: and all of the joy that brings, and the ice 51 00:03:35,533 --> 00:03:39,093 Speaker 2: creams and the card games and the memories, and for 52 00:03:39,133 --> 00:03:42,173 Speaker 2: that to end in a moment and a freak accident 53 00:03:42,253 --> 00:03:48,293 Speaker 2: like this, it's just hideous. And look, this really isn't 54 00:03:48,333 --> 00:03:52,373 Speaker 2: about me. It's just to say that after Mount Monganui, 55 00:03:52,453 --> 00:03:55,653 Speaker 2: I couldn't help but think a lot about my own boys, 56 00:03:56,013 --> 00:04:01,093 Speaker 2: and just imagine, just imagine how awful these days and 57 00:04:01,133 --> 00:04:04,133 Speaker 2: this waiting will have been for those poor families whose 58 00:04:04,213 --> 00:04:07,853 Speaker 2: kids are missing. It's another dimension to parenting I had 59 00:04:07,893 --> 00:04:14,413 Speaker 2: to experience to fully understand. I love my boys so intensely, 60 00:04:15,693 --> 00:04:18,253 Speaker 2: but we all know there's nothing that any of us 61 00:04:18,533 --> 00:04:21,213 Speaker 2: can do to fully protect anyone in this world. Right, 62 00:04:21,533 --> 00:04:23,773 Speaker 2: some things are just left up to chance and to luck, 63 00:04:23,853 --> 00:04:27,733 Speaker 2: and freak accidents happen. I just hope that the poor 64 00:04:27,773 --> 00:04:31,373 Speaker 2: families at the center of this have every last bit 65 00:04:31,453 --> 00:04:34,693 Speaker 2: of support that will possibly help them in any way. 66 00:04:35,453 --> 00:04:38,533 Speaker 1: For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live 67 00:04:38,653 --> 00:04:41,453 Speaker 1: to News Talks d B from nine am Saturday, or 68 00:04:41,533 --> 00:04:43,373 Speaker 1: follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.