Cato offers some food for thought when it comes to the lessons we teach our kids. Photo / Doug Sherring
Cato offers some food for thought when it comes to the lessons we teach our kids. Photo / Doug Sherring
Welcome to season five of the Herald’s parenting podcast: One Day You’ll Thank Me. Join parent and host Jenni Mortimer and weekly guest hosts as they navigate the challenges and triumphs of parenting today with help from experts and well-known mums and dads from across Aotearoa.
If you had asked Suzy Cato 30 years ago if she thought she would still be a household name in New Zealand in 2023, she admits she probably would’ve been the first person to laugh in your face.
However, the beloved Kiwi icon and children’s entertainer has no plans on stopping anytime soon, having just released her latest children’s book titled I Can Do It.
While the book covers themes such as resilience and encouraging your kids to do better, Cato says there is a lot that adults can learn from it as well.
“It’s all about resilience, it’s all about perseverance and something that I’ve needed a lot of myself this year and something that we all need,” she says.
“It’s a message that our kids - our tamariki - it doesn’t matter what age they are, what challenges they are going through, whether it’s tying a shoelace or climbing up to the top of the ladder or going through an exam or something like that, it is: ‘I can do this. I’ve got this. Everything is going to be okay’.”
Suzy Cato during storytime in association with Read NZ Te Pou Muramura features four award-winning children's books presented with music.
It’s lessons like these, that stretch across ages and generations, that have kept Cato on our bookshelves and screens for years.
Reflecting on her three-decade-long career, Cato says, “It’s just wonderful to still be doing it”.
“I get a lot of comments like, ‘wow, you haven’t changed at all’ and I think, ‘one day, when I grow up, I might be more mature. But, in the meantime, I’m only 55 and I’ve got years ahead of being a big kid. So, just make the most of it’.”
As for what motivates Cato to keep doing her incredible work with kids, the entertainer quips, “I’ve got bills that are multiplying”.
After her fits of giggles have subsided, Cato gets candid about the force that drives her.
“For me, it’s all about being a friend,” she shares.
So, with the school holidays now upon us, we asked New Zealand’s greatest children’s entertainer what we could be doing with our kids – and one of her tips was taking it back to the basics.
“One of the best things that we ever invested in for our kids was a cardboard box. The bigger the better! You can cut doors in it and cut windows in it.
Cato adds: “For a child to have the imaginative play where they can create their own fun, it’s invaluable.”
For more school holiday tips from Cato, listen to this week’s episode of One Day You’ll Thank Me.
