Sharon| Warkworth
“Every day’s a proud moment for any grandmother. I love all my grandchildren and just being in Warkworth and finding new things with her to do. She’s so excited and I’m excited to start our new beginning. It’s awesome being a grandmother, because you can always give them back.
I grew up in Auckland, but my family originate from a little town called Kaeo. It’s a 20 minute drive from Kerikeri. My husband got the 10 year contract for the new motorway that’s being built up here, so we’ve had to uplift the family, but at the moment it’s just him and I.
We’ve brought my granddaughter up for the school holidays, and taking her home tomorrow, and hopefully bring another grandchild up. Yeah, giving them turns; only one child at a time Nana can handle. But I’m loving it here; getting up in the morning to the fresh air, the beautiful sunlight. The people are so friendly. It’s really awesome and it’s a good change for my wellbeing as I’m getting older.
One thing we do share is that her grandfather, my partner, showed her how to draw circles when she was about a year and a half, two years, so she calls him Papa Circle, calls me Nanny Circle, and we call her Little Circle. So we’re called the Circle Family. You know? But we’re trying to get her into other shapes. So, where’s Papa Circle? Oh, she got a big smile when it’s Papa Circle. She’s a bit shy.
Our generation, our next generation, and being being Māori myself, the way we were raised as children; we had it pretty rough. We don’t want our children to go through that. We’ve noticed that with the Government and poverty, and where our children are, I think that’s very unfair. Our children should have a chance and they should have a voice, because they’re our future, and that’s all I can say.”
