Article #246264

When I was feeling utterly worn out, a stranger came along to give my kids joy

• Read more in the kindness of strangers series

I was completely exhausted. While wrangling two kids aged under three, my husband and I had just moved all the way from the Kimberley to Tasmania. I remember being totally sleep deprived and trying to furnish a new house entirely from op-shops, without a support network around. I was so tired I’d recently driven the car into the fence at home – that’s the level of exhaustion I was dealing with!

We were out doing the groceries when I let the kids sit on those small mechanical rides you find out the front of shopping centres, while I sat down to take a breather. I never actually put any money in to start the rides, because I considered them a waste. When you’ve got little kids, you don’t have much disposable income to splash on silly things like that.