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Motherhood: a stripping
I vaguely remember my post-birth days. I mean, how much detail would you expect a stitched up (perineal stitches are evil), overly exhausted, hormone-wrecked new mother to remember? Those days are a blur. If I were to remember anything, it would be how instant the falling inlove with my kids were. Like, immediate. The only other thing I remember, though, was a comment someone made after seeing me (and my glorious, unbrushed hair, teeth, pretty much everything), after a particularly grueling birth. It had been day two or three post birth and I was frazzled and in pain. Our visitors arrived with supper (praise the good Lord) and quietly had…
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The big gender reveal
Well, I’m more than half way into cooking a whole baby in my belly and we have yet to reveal the gender to anyone. More so because we don’t know our little youngling’s gender either. And guess what you guys, we don’t plan to find out anytime soon. Our big gender reveal will most likely only take place when baby Williams is actually here. Yep – we’re going ‘royal family’ and will only find out baby’s gender once he/she is born. As you can imagine, this was totally and completely Hubstopher’s idea (because I have a super intense spreadsheet brain and I need to know everything all the time). I had,…
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All stepparents are monsters, right?
Stepparenting is not for sissies. Yes, that’s my opening line. Whaaat? It’s the truth you guys. A recent conversation with a very emotional friend made me realize that the average stepparent has to deal with a lot more junk than they actually deserve. Now, allow me to add a little disclaimer: it is possible to have a healthy blended family dynamic. So the thoughts in this post may not be for you (you go girl, keep up the great work!) but I’m sure it will speak to the hearts of those who are experiencing challenges on the stepparenting front. We all know that parenting is super hard at times. And stepparenting…
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‘YouTube for kids’ is freaking me out!
So I’m sure you guys have learnt about the freaky YouTube hacks that have been found peppered throughout some of our kid’s favorite YouTube and YouTube Kids videos. Yep, I’m talking KIDS videos… you know, the ones that are seemingly safe and harmless. The ones our children are glued to, when they are enjoying their screen time, each day. Malicious people are hacking dem videos, you guys, and adding content that basically encourages your little one to self harm, or even worse, end their lives or that of their families. Shocked yet? I know, right. Pediatrician, Free Hess, found a bunch of YouTube and YouTube Kids videos that included tips…
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Living with teenagers can be annoying!
If you’re the parent of a small kid, or, in my case, a gang of small kids, and you’re thinking that your life is “woes” right now, allow me to bring some clarity to the situation. This level of “woesness” is nothing compared to when your tiny angels are full grown adults, who have opinions of their own. (Disclaimer, if you’ve come here for advice, move along Jackie. But if you’re looking for a kindred heart who has had to stop herself from, you know, throwing shoes and cutlery at her grown son, then welcome friend! This post is for us.) No one makes me as angry as my 17…
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Choosing the right school for your child and other parenting headaches
I grew up in a very “colored” part of Port Elizabeth. You know, the type of suburb where all the kids in the neighborhood would play with each other in the street (literally, because we didn’t have big yards or grassy side walks) and anyone’s parent was allowed to give you a group spanking if you misbehaved. Back then, there kinda was an unspoken rule: when your time for schooling came, you would attend one of the public schools in the area. Sure, some of our more fancier friends were carted to and from the “white areas”, attending posh schools with exorbitant school fees that our parents could not afford.…
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When is cow’s milk safe for my toddler?
My bully beef baby boy is growing so well, you guys! His budding personality and infectious giggles are the highlight of our day (Kari included!) and we love watching him grow into a real little boy. On his first birthday, I had begun to wean him off formula, introducing a growth milk slowly. My wallet enjoyed the relief! My Hubstopher appreciated the efficiency behind simply pouring, versus the mind-numbing time suck that comes preparing formula bottles in the middle of the night. And then, the unthinkable happened. It was 11pm, on a Sunday night, and we had run out of growth milk. I don’t know, somewhere along the line, my…
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Moms, have you heard about the ‘Fiver Party’ trend?
What if I told you that “no gift parties” are the new in thing? Yes, I’m being serious. Okay, let’s start at the beginning. Hands up, if you’ve been to more kid’s parties in one year, than you’ve been to actual, grown up parties. In fact, taking your children to birthday parties is high up on the list of standard “things to do when you’re a parent”. But the thing is this, guys, it can get quite pricey if you’re attending copious amounts of birthday parties on the regular! Well, one genius mom came up with the “Fiver Party” concept and it’s now trending in America and Canada. A Fiver…
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Your children are watching you
Ever wonder what your kids see when they witness how you handle things at home? I mean, sure, sometimes your hubby annoys you and you have your moments of frustration. But you keep it together, right? I mean, your home is totally not a war zone, right? But what do your kids see? And, are they seeing what you would like them to see? Your children are watching you. Yes, that sounds like the synopsis of an Alfred Hitchcock movie. My cryptic opening paragraph may have you scratching your head and reaching for your phone to scroll through Instagram. Sorry, Candice. I was having a moment. But now that I’ve pulled…
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Human trafficking: Should I be sharing my kid’s photos on social media
The child abduction scare has literally left our parenting community reeling and, to be honest, the frantic (false) voice notes and Facebook shares are not really helping us at all. As I’ve said before, I’m all for REAL news and information, but when you start spreading mass hysteria, you’re kinda not allowing people to make informed decisions. As a blogger I’ve been so aware recently with regards to the type of information I share about my kids online. Should I be sharing my kid’s photos on social media? It is with these questions in mind that I contacted three legit organizations – namely A21, STOP Human Trafficking and Missing Children…
