A proud Cook Islands father believes that the best gift a parent can give their children is the ability to thrive as adults, emphasising the importance of family values and community service.

Mark Short is a proud father of seven wonderful, talented children: Natalia, 30, Eri Te Ana, Estelle, son Siana, Maihanarei, Akirata, and the youngest 11-year-old son Kaena. He is also a grandfather of two soon-to-be three grandchildren.

A lawyer in his firm on Rarotonga, Short is the new chef de mission for the Cook Islands Sports and National Olympic Committee (CISNOC), the former head of te Business Trade Investment Board, and former Secretary of Justice.

He also led the Cook Islands National Arts Theatre (CINAT) team to the Festival of the Pacific Arts Festival in Hawai’i in June this year and runs the cultural dance group Manavanui.

Beyond this, Short is a devoted father, passionate about his children, family, culture, heritage, sports and community.

“My hope for my kids is just if they could be ambassadors for being able to live their life according to the values that we have, you know honesty, integrity, honour, helping others,” he shares.

“I hope that they adopt the values they’ve been taught and that they pass it onto their family’s and into the community that they live in, then I’ll be happy.

“So, what happens is that the values you teach them at home is perpetuated in their new families.”

Mark Short is the proud father of seven children: Natalia, Eri Te Ana, Estelle, Siana (m), Maihanarei, Akirata and the youngest 11-year-old Kaena (m). SUPPLIED/24083008

In a world that constantly evolves, Short stands firm in his belief that the greatest gift a parent can give their children is the ability to thrive as adults.

He understands that childhood is not just a time for play and innocence, but also a crucial period for building the skills and resilience necessary for adulthood.

And he aims to nurture a sense of responsibility and confidence, ensuring that his children are not only prepared for the challenges ahead but also equipped and empowered to embrace the opportunities that await them.

“Well, it starts in the home,” Short says. “The best gift that parents can give is to prepare their children for when they become adults.”

“If you invest the time and if you actually focus on trying to not only nurture but to give your kids confidence to encourage them, then I think that’s the best gift parents can give.”

In his legal practice, Short, a well-known defence lawyer, sees many young children and youth on the island getting into trouble – in and out of court – and witnesses the pain and heartache they experience.

“I can see what can happen when they (kids) are not loved,” he explains.

“I want to make sure that I invest as much time as I possibly can into my children.”

His children have done extremely well and are high achievers all around in academics, and the fields of culture and sport.

Thirty-year-old Natalia, the eldest, is a mother of two. She was a dux at Apii Te Uki Ou, Miss Cook Islands 2015, an international netball representative and holds a degree in Business Management and Accounting. She currently manages the family business Moana Sands Group.

Eri-Te-Ana was also an Apii Te Uki Ou dux, an international netball representative, and is a lawyer currently employed at the Bell Gully law firm in Auckland, New Zealand.

His eldest son Siana was also a top student at Apii Te Uki Ou. He’s currently completing his engineering degree in Auckland before pursuing other rewarding opportunities

Estelle has represented the country internationally in athletics – 100 metre, 200m and long jump. She is a former Te Mire Ura dance champion and has one more year to complete her Early Childhood Education course in New Zealand.

His daughters, Maihanarei and Akirata, are attending Tereora College and both masters at drumming and dancing. They recently won their sprint races at the college sports day.

The youngest, Kaena, 11-year-old son, is a champion dancer, amazing drummer and a remarkable kid.

Short says he tries to instil good family principles and practices in his children.

Every Sunday afternoon they have a family get together. The children keep the minutes.

“It’s really just to plan what we’re doing for the week,” Short explains. “If you plan, it just makes it easier.”

He says there are always things to talk about including culture practices, costumes and shows, homework and school assignments and housekeeping duties such as laundry cleaning house, the lawns, and others.

Before Short became a father, he researched on how to raise children, reading all he could about positive parenting strategies.

“What I learnt in a nutshell while I was still at university was that when a baby is in the womb you are supposed to stimulate it and sing to the mother and talk to the womb … and when they’re born to sing to them again and have books with brights colours, when they’re born you have five years to help stimulate their brain.

“I did that to all my kids and I see the results.”

When his eldest, Natalia, who is 30 now, was a baby, Short created a list of principles that all his children learn from and are still learning today.

These principles include:

• Commit your faith in God and follow his guidance and direction,
• Family is very, very important,
• Honour and respect your heritage and your culture,
• Be positive, confident and strong and nothing is impossible,
• Preparation prevents poor performance,
• Do things properly otherwise it will fail,
• Healthy body = Healthy Mind,
• Treat people with respect like how you want to be treated,
• Be yourself, accept yourself and respect yourself – don’t try to be someone or something that you are not,
• If there is a problem don’t despair, create options ans fix it, and
• Honour your parents and your siblings for they are your foundation and strength.

His favourite is: “People are always blaming their circumstances for the way they are. I don’t believe in excuses. The people who get ahead in life look for the circumstances they want and if they can’t find them, they make them.”

Short says his children may not have understood these principles when they first learned them, but now they do.

“Sometimes in life you come across a challenge and you can always go back to these principles,” he says.

Short ensures that his children do their fair share of housekeeping and mowing lawns, taking care of their home.

Although they have workers, who could mow their lawn, Short is adamant his children do their part.

“My kids all mow the lawns. Why? Because I grew up that way and the kids have to learn that.

“Otherwise, you’re going to have kids who are so spoilt, they live in a cocoon thinking their world is like that where you don’t have to mow lawns, we’ll just pay someone to do it.

“What happens if the family business gets bankrupt and you have no money who’s going to look after the lawns now. So at least they have that skill.”

Maihanarei, Akirata and Kaena Short are skilled culture drummers in the Cook Islands and members of the CINAT. SUPPLIED/24083005

His children are also well-known for their skills in culture particularly in drumming and dancing.

Short says he gives them drums to play around with usually when they are around the age of four to five.

“We set up our culture group in 2007 and the kids would be there listening so they were also surrounded by culture, then they start to create their own, practicing their own beat.

“Kaena would set up his own small pate and a pa’u mangō and just have a go …

“It took me five to six years to teach my kids the basics of drumming – compressing 25 years of drumming into five – it’s bloody hard.”

His family also has ukelele lessons. They have a chart with all the songs written, and away they go strumming and singing, delighted in their culture.

Short also wants his children to recognise the value of giving service to the community. Their culture group performs at White Ribbon, Christmas in the Park and community events.

“My daughter once said ‘Dad, we’re always doing things voluntarily?’ I said, my philosophy is: ‘If you live in a community and you have a lot, much is expected you know. So, you have to learn to give. Otherwise, what kind of people would we be’.”

Short believes that with the evident problems and issues in the community, and young people struggling to deal with being parents, more can be done.

His recommendation is that young parents need to have parenting classes or a workshop on raising children with good values so that they can go on to become leaders in the community or successful in what they want to do.

And when it comes to your children and their partners, Short says: “At the end of the day, you can’t interfere with matters of the heart.”

With Father’s Day being observed tomorrow, Short notes how a lot of people put so much emphasis on these celebrations.

“I’ve never really liked celebrations,” he says. “I get Father’s Day every time my kids do well.”