Charlie Dunn just loves to shear.
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He probably never imagined a video of him shearing at his family’s Culcairn property would become an internet sensation and land him an appearance on a television show.
But the internet has a way of spiralling even the simplest of videos out of control.
The spirited five-year-old joked with his sister about shearing for “20-and-a-half years” and it’s hard to imagine that a child with this much persona is also brimming with talent.
Charlie is a regular helper on his family’s farm and seems to have traded the iPad for a set of clippers.
In what world does a child favour manual labour over technology these days?
It’s part of that farm upbringing, that rural set of values, that is missing from city kids these days.
Charlie knows the value of a hard day’s work and he’s just started kindergarten.
But this boy has been pretending to shear his toys since he was two.
When were were that age, we’d be flat out stringing together a sentence or choosing between Thomas the Tank Engine or The Wiggles on TV.
He’s already decided the career path for the rest of his life – for now.
This would have stemmed from Charlie watching his parents, Donna and Clint, run the family farm.
Something would have resonated with Charlie where he said “that’s for me.”
Was it spending all day outside?
Or cuddling up to sheep all day?
When we were Charlie’s age, our career aspirations were very different but was that because we were exposed to different environments?
Charlie isn’t alone in the remarkable youngsters category.
Little Big Shots will air on Prime7 soon and feature an array of other children with talent.
As the promotion says, it’s not a competition – and thank goodness.
Children should not be pitted against each other on national TV but instead individually highlighted for their abilities.
We should be praising children, not comparing them.
And while others look to be capable singers or dancers, Charlie is the only one in the promo with clippers in hand.
He is a worthy representative of his region.
Little Big Shots is coming soon to Prime7.