Just as it was nearing lunchtime our neighbourhood lost power. Once again Tshwane Metro Municipality astounds me with their utter lack of care when it comes to letting their ratepayers know that there is going to be a substantial break in services. J&C had fun though, and pizza for lunch.
Himself and I finally got round to putting their desks and chairs together so that they have a proper place to study and do homework. They've spent much of the afternoon sitting at their new desks.
Weather is awfully cold. Just your typical lazy Sunday today minus electricity. It came back on just after 3pm.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Friday, April 08, 2011
Taking the mommy wars too far?
Over in SA's 10th province (otherwise known as Australia ;) ), there's a war brewing between moms and their government representative, Pru Goward (Aussie NSW's Family Minister). She found it necessary to attack a mom for bad parenting based on a photograph published in a newspaper of the woman walking across a road at a crossing holding her 3 month old baby and feeding her...with a bottle (if it had been a bared breast I would hate to imagine the further outcry there would have been).
The Family Minister accused this woman of endangering her baby by feeding her on the go, comparing her to Michael Jackson's famous lets-hang-the-baby-off-the-balcony incident back in 2002 in Berlin. She further stated (and I think this was even more of an insult) that she didn't think there was any woman or mother, even a hardened feminist, anywhere in the country, who would condone this woman's action. How wrong she is. Media personalities and others have come out against the Minister for her insensitive words.
The mother in question is a media personality who hosts her own radio show. To add insult to injury, Ms Goward also feels that the mother should never have returned to work 2 months after her baby's birth...working from home in a studio built specially for her.
Really? How antiquated a pov Ms Goward has.
I don't know about you, but life as a new mother with a brand new life is scary, fraught with indecision at every little thing you do. If Ms Goward had been a fly on the wall the first few months of J's life, she'd have locked me up for child endangerment and child abuse almost every single day.
His first night home from the hospital 4 days after his birth I managed to burn his entire mouth with the sterilising fluid I used to clean the breast shields I was using to breastfeed him. (No one had explained to me that I should dilute the liquid with water before cleaning them and I was too damn tired to read the instructions on the bottle.) Poor kid screamed until he couldn't anymore. Then he screamed some more. For an hour. I felt like an utter failure from the get go.
I breastfed him too many times to count in public toilets because the places I was at didn't have a baby room and I wasn't confident enough to breastfeed in public.
I changed his nappy countless times on the floor with just a baby blanket under him because the places we were at once again didn't feel the need to cater to their clientele who had babies.
He was born in February, the hottest time of the year. Countless times I let him sleep in just a nappy because it was so hot. I even took him out with just a nappy and tshirt sometimes if I needed to make a run to the shop for bread or milk in those first few months.
Oh the horror of it all! I should be locked up forever for endangering my child so.
Instead of berating a new parent how about we take a new tack on it? How about we support instead of rip the supoort out from under someone's feet? How about we give moms the chance to stay at home long enough without fear of losing their jobs? How about we work with moms instead of declaring war? How about we just leave other people alone long enough to get comfortable in their new roles instead of bashing them at every turn? How about we keep our opinions to ourselves instead of blundering in where we are clearly not needed...or wanted?
The Family Minister accused this woman of endangering her baby by feeding her on the go, comparing her to Michael Jackson's famous lets-hang-the-baby-off-the-balcony incident back in 2002 in Berlin. She further stated (and I think this was even more of an insult) that she didn't think there was any woman or mother, even a hardened feminist, anywhere in the country, who would condone this woman's action. How wrong she is. Media personalities and others have come out against the Minister for her insensitive words.
The mother in question is a media personality who hosts her own radio show. To add insult to injury, Ms Goward also feels that the mother should never have returned to work 2 months after her baby's birth...working from home in a studio built specially for her.
Really? How antiquated a pov Ms Goward has.
I don't know about you, but life as a new mother with a brand new life is scary, fraught with indecision at every little thing you do. If Ms Goward had been a fly on the wall the first few months of J's life, she'd have locked me up for child endangerment and child abuse almost every single day.
His first night home from the hospital 4 days after his birth I managed to burn his entire mouth with the sterilising fluid I used to clean the breast shields I was using to breastfeed him. (No one had explained to me that I should dilute the liquid with water before cleaning them and I was too damn tired to read the instructions on the bottle.) Poor kid screamed until he couldn't anymore. Then he screamed some more. For an hour. I felt like an utter failure from the get go.
I breastfed him too many times to count in public toilets because the places I was at didn't have a baby room and I wasn't confident enough to breastfeed in public.
I changed his nappy countless times on the floor with just a baby blanket under him because the places we were at once again didn't feel the need to cater to their clientele who had babies.
He was born in February, the hottest time of the year. Countless times I let him sleep in just a nappy because it was so hot. I even took him out with just a nappy and tshirt sometimes if I needed to make a run to the shop for bread or milk in those first few months.
Oh the horror of it all! I should be locked up forever for endangering my child so.
Instead of berating a new parent how about we take a new tack on it? How about we support instead of rip the supoort out from under someone's feet? How about we give moms the chance to stay at home long enough without fear of losing their jobs? How about we work with moms instead of declaring war? How about we just leave other people alone long enough to get comfortable in their new roles instead of bashing them at every turn? How about we keep our opinions to ourselves instead of blundering in where we are clearly not needed...or wanted?
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Hoarding stuff
I am a hoarder. There I finally said it. I cannot bear to throw anything away. I have boxes and boxes and BOXES of crap everywhere. I think it is time I start clearing out some of this stuff and getting rid of it. I need to declutter my life and my house. I'd show you all pictures of the hoarde of crap I have but I am too embarrassed.
Sunday, April 03, 2011
Storms and routers
How to blow your router - leave the phone line plugged in during a thunder and lightning storm of epic proportions. That is what I did last week. You'd think I know better, but no, I unplugged the power and left the phone line in. Ok so it was 3am in the morning and I was in a zombie like comatose state when I unplugged the damn thing. Still, I'd have thought Himself would have unplugged it the night before, being an IT specialist and all.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Braces
C got her braces 3 weeks ago. At first they hurt but now they are fine. She brushes her teeth in her bottom jaw every morning and just before bedtime. I brush, clean, and brush again the teeth in her upper jaw. She chose purple and pink bands. I think she is impressed with her braces. Everyone in her class loves that she has them. She's the only girl in her class that has braces (twin boys have but boys don't count apparently) and every time she opens her mouth the other girls squeal and make a comment about the braces. C is also a drama queen deluxe so this centre of attention thing she has going is right up her alley.
J hasn't teased her at all, his bff S tried but J told him to stop. Big brother went balastic on his friend. Poor kid. He won't be teasing anyone again in a hurry.
Along with the braces, she has had to embrace a whole new way of eating :
No gassy drinks (not that we live off the stuff, she only ever drinks coke zero at the Spur a few times a year and at parties she gets invited to, which is also a few times a year).
No sweets (not even marshmallows).
No sugary treats or biscuits (gone are the rusks she likes to dunk in her morning tea sometimes and the melted marshmallows inbetween marie biscuits).
No nuts of any kind.
No droe wors.
No biltong.
No mielies.
No popcorn.
No chips.
No chewing meat off bones (my little carnivore really struggles with this one).
Everything must be cut up into bite size portions. She can't bite anything with her front teeth for the next 9 months.
Her school lunches went from sandwiches with ham, or peanut butter or wraps with chunks of chicken strips to sandwiches with marmite and cheese or a thin spread of smooth peanut butter cut into tiny pieces, fruit cut up into small pieces, cooked carrots diced or grated fresh, sweetcorn mixed with bits of ham. She meticulously checks the lables on all food products to see if it contains any sugar. If it does, she doesn't eat it. Yesterday I treated J and his friend S to cheese rolls with strawberry jam, a coke in a glass bottle (gotta love the old fashioned bottles) and a 7Up. C had a slice of brown bread cut into 11tybillion pieces with some butter and a thin layer of strawberry jam and a bottle of water.
Breakfast is ok now. She loves Special K but hates it warm so we switched to oatmeal with vanilla, green food colouring and a bit of butter with milk. Dinners have become times to really experiment with food. Last night I made mini meatball curry with sweet potatoes and carrots. She ate more vegetables than meat, even though the meatballs were small enough to cut in half and put in her mouth. She's eating more healthy now than she ever did before (tomatoes are still a huge no no though but we are working on that one).
She is living for the day 6 months from now when the orthodontist takes those braces off. She's started a list of all the things she is going to eat on that day.
J hasn't teased her at all, his bff S tried but J told him to stop. Big brother went balastic on his friend. Poor kid. He won't be teasing anyone again in a hurry.
Along with the braces, she has had to embrace a whole new way of eating :
No gassy drinks (not that we live off the stuff, she only ever drinks coke zero at the Spur a few times a year and at parties she gets invited to, which is also a few times a year).
No sweets (not even marshmallows).
No sugary treats or biscuits (gone are the rusks she likes to dunk in her morning tea sometimes and the melted marshmallows inbetween marie biscuits).
No nuts of any kind.
No droe wors.
No biltong.
No mielies.
No popcorn.
No chips.
No chewing meat off bones (my little carnivore really struggles with this one).
Everything must be cut up into bite size portions. She can't bite anything with her front teeth for the next 9 months.
Her school lunches went from sandwiches with ham, or peanut butter or wraps with chunks of chicken strips to sandwiches with marmite and cheese or a thin spread of smooth peanut butter cut into tiny pieces, fruit cut up into small pieces, cooked carrots diced or grated fresh, sweetcorn mixed with bits of ham. She meticulously checks the lables on all food products to see if it contains any sugar. If it does, she doesn't eat it. Yesterday I treated J and his friend S to cheese rolls with strawberry jam, a coke in a glass bottle (gotta love the old fashioned bottles) and a 7Up. C had a slice of brown bread cut into 11tybillion pieces with some butter and a thin layer of strawberry jam and a bottle of water.
Breakfast is ok now. She loves Special K but hates it warm so we switched to oatmeal with vanilla, green food colouring and a bit of butter with milk. Dinners have become times to really experiment with food. Last night I made mini meatball curry with sweet potatoes and carrots. She ate more vegetables than meat, even though the meatballs were small enough to cut in half and put in her mouth. She's eating more healthy now than she ever did before (tomatoes are still a huge no no though but we are working on that one).
She is living for the day 6 months from now when the orthodontist takes those braces off. She's started a list of all the things she is going to eat on that day.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Imaginary friends
J has a classmate who has a girlfriend. An imaginary girlfriend. He's kissed her, they've broken up, he likes her. He misses her. J thinks it's weird that his classmate has an imaginary friend. And that she's a girl. See, girls are horrible creatures. They are not worthy of a boy's time. They exist solely to plague boys (of course it doesn't help that his nemesis is a girl, and that she teases him all the time). (Secretly I am so frigging stoked he still thinks this way about girls! But I digress.) What has J so freaked about this imaginary friend is that his classmate talks about her all.the.time. Like, get into trouble talk which gets you sent to the Headmaster's office. Yes, he spoke so much about this imaginary girlfriend yesterday that he ended up disrupting the class and was sent off to have a chat with the Headmaster. Poor kid.
In my day, imaginary friends were friends who always got the blame for putting socks on the cat's paws, or eating the last of the jelly and custard, or who wrote on the wall, or who busted your bike because they told you to try and stand on the seat while going at warp speed down a gravel road. Downhill. With no brakes.
In my day, imaginary friends were friends who always got the blame for putting socks on the cat's paws, or eating the last of the jelly and custard, or who wrote on the wall, or who busted your bike because they told you to try and stand on the seat while going at warp speed down a gravel road. Downhill. With no brakes.
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