Jeannie Little: a lesson in doing it tough

I wonder how many of you remember Jeannie Little, the quirky, gifted entertainer with that Australian drawl. Jeannie and her husband Barry had one of the oldest houses in Pearl Beach, my family had the other one.

As you know, Jeannie, has passed on recently but I had huge respect for this lovely lady, hiding behind this Betty Blacktown image. Jeannie was so kind that when I was launching my “Who’d be a Parent” book and I had Sandy as my muppet, she came on TV just to support me! I will never forget that and after the interview I asked her for her take on parenting as a busy mum. Here’s an extract of what she said;

There have been lots of hard passages in our parenting, but one I’ll always remember was when I was told I had cancer and I had to have an operation. The specialist said that when I woke up he’d have either good news or bad news for me. The first thing I remember after the operation was Katie’s little school hat bending over my bed and she said “Mum you’re going to live after all”. I then sank back into sleep but I’ll never forget that moment. In fact it changed my life; I realised that Katie and Barry were all that mattered and other things in my life would have to fit around them and I’ve tried to keep those values ever since.

We’ve had some very hard financial times. Sometimes we could only afford to eat mince and sausages but we got by and were able to have a good laugh about it later. As long as you love each other and can talk it out then things will work out. I think too many couples would rather walk out than talk it out, it’s all too easy.

But don’t stay just for the kids. My mum was married to a man who used alcohol too much. It was a miserable life for us all. She asked her parents if she could come back and live there and they said “No, you’ve made your bed, now lie on it”. I think that was so heartless, I don’t understand it.

Later on when she had had enough, she packed up all 7 of us kids and moved into a little weatherboard house and we were all really happy even though we were dreadfully poor. She started her own business and helped my brothers get started in a wrought iron business, she’d draw the designs on the kitchen table. But they all did very well and I’ll always admire my mum’s courage. She didn’t just complain or just sit back and take it, she got up and did something to make things better.

Not everyone can have two ideal parents, but if you can have one wonderful parent as I did, then that’s enough, don’t complain, get out and have a go.

When things got me down I often do what my mother taught me and she taught me a lot. She would read tea leaves, sound silly but they always gave you a lift with something good ahead so things weren’t all bad.

Jeanie – you well and truly deserve your place in my Humble Heroes Hall of Fame