#twift

Hi!

My goodness! This isn’t the normal for me but why not. I figure the chances of a #Taylurking would be higher here!

Ok so here’s a straight forward, insightful and personal look into my world and how it is travelling with the post below that I recently shared in the Facebook Fan Group “Taylor Swifts Vault” Thanks to this page I discovered (thankfully in time to get some tickets!!) that my local cinema will be playing the Eras tour movie and after locking down tickets, I was beyond stoked and have had the best day celebrating and singing Taylor ALL DAY. Now look, this is the usual for me to sing all the things all of the times, but it was next level for the family, trust me.

I thought it was only being shown in Brisbane and was sorta kinda hurt all over again after not being able to get tickets. After making peace with not getting tickets, I buried any hard feels by creating this very blog page you find yourself eyeballing!

I’d been gently guiding my niece (I am her full time guardian) and stepdaughter, also 12, into Swiftie Territory. I mean, we would already regularly bust out to a song together; I am always oversharing facts and insights into whatever song might be playing or giving Swiftstory Lessons on the crucial moments in Taylor’s life and what impact they might have had, BUT most importantly I am forever establishing Taylor as a perfect role model for them by talking about/reminding them of all the amazing acts of kindness she does, her humble nature and generous bonuses to staff and the wonderful ways she shows up for her fans in so many ways.

I have been know to correlate lyrics and thematic aspects of Taylor’s songs when we are having the big “life” talks; you know, relationship talks and whatever- There is always something that can be tied to a TS song, particularly with 12 year old girls who have huge amounts of feelings and a tendency to be dramatic.

I was SO happy they agreed to be my dates on Friday the 13th October at 6pm AEST at Reading Cinemas, Harbourtown, Gold Coast/Queensland Australia (phew what a mouthful lol. Posted this specific info in the hopes of catching the attention of any other fellow local Swifites!)

But when we started excitedly discussing and began whipping up our friendship bracelets and planning our outfits together (..or “fits” as my niece calls it) I had to hold back from crying happy, deep realisation in the in the moment style of tears.

Anyone with 12 year old girls knows how difficult it can be navigating this period of life in general; the attitudes, moodiness and rapid increase in laziness is enough with just the one, but here I am with TWOz And although I love them like my own and treat ALL the kids equally (there’s 4 other boys too,step sons a nephews and a biological Threenager turddler) - It can be so hard, often at times THAT much harder not actually being their Mum.

Why is it that much harder? When they were younger, the dynamics were strictly that of parental figure and child and rules that were more firmer given their ages.

Now, as they get older and start to outgrow previous rules and are given slightly more leeway, they sometimes get more resistant, stubborn and more argumentative as they relearn different and new boundaries.

.. Ladies and gentleman I present to you The Tween Era. Colour Scheme identifiers: Bleak and tonal Thundercloud Grey, with extremely rare flecks of crystal skies blue and cheeky dashes of vibrant colour 😅

.. So anyway I definitely digressed a little bit!

What I am trying to convey is how today I discovered an extra love and appreciation for Taylor Swift that I didn’t consider as a possibility- that being an unexpected but highly enjoyable new bond between my girls and I.

@taylorswift you might not see this, but just knowing that the good intentions of my appreciation will come back to you in the form of positive karma is enough for me:

The impact of your incredibly gifted artistry to date and the resulting, pivotal decision in YOUR world @taylornation to release The Eras Tour to cinemas worldwide has flowed into MY world in the most amazing way…

My niece, stepdaughter and I have successfully managed to find a rare, balancing foundation that I feel will underpin the strength and continuity of so much more love to come. This seemingly flippant bond over you will smoothly carry us through the predicted and potentially rocky hard years to come as they enter the teenager years and beyond.

The simple act of showing our support to you will deepen our connection and positive growth for us for years to come. The wonders it’s worked on our communication already is a priceless gift I’ll always treasure xx

Normally I sign off my posts with the whole swirly font

“until then..” *insert random Taylor lyric alluding to or contextualised into a farewell* resume swirly fancy big font xx Dani.

But this is a bonus round post so here are some bonus photos!

Recent pic of me and my beautiful girls.. again, yes I know they aren’t mine by blood but they are mine in heart and the heart is what that keeps everything flowing and continually going.. I couldn’t think of a better analogy to represent me.

(Yes I was in my Red era that day with the hat/white tee and shirts combo, but the extra layer of “Red” that you didn’t see was how I had “22” blasting through a speaker under the pram, me singing at the top of my lungs as I took 5 kids for a walk up to the local Broadwater to cool off and vibe with the creation of some truly magical, summer beach memories ✨🏝️

Bonus pic 1. Circa being done with “22” 🤪 ( The fella in the purple shirt isn’t mine but he and his sister are practically part of the furniture anyway)

Bonus pic 2. My step kids, niece and nephew and the boss of them all, the tiny, tyrannical, trex-sounding, tantrum throwing , threenager turddler 😂 He’s the problem, it’s him! Everybody agrees everybody agreeeess.. 😜

Let's Assume Greta Wins Suppose, all the eco-activists are right, the "green" guys won, and humanity immediately satisfied all their requirements: the rejection of fossil fuels, abandonment of geological exploration of it, and the end of fossil fuel mining.