Category: being mom

A day in the life of a part time wahm

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Since I am not in a traditional “work setting” on Thursdays and Fridays, Wednesdays are usually filled with comments like “It’s practically Friday for you”, “Oh my, you are so lucky” and the more loaded “Wish I was so lucky, but some of us have to work” I smile, I nod, I think; I had to sacrifice half a pay check for this you judgmental so and so and duh I need to work, I happen to work my arse off at not one but three jobs and a blog so you can go jump. I wanted to spend more time with my kid and I wanted to follow my dream of starting a brand so it’s sacrifice after sacrifice and I don’t judge your decisions so HUSH…
Sidebar: I’d be  very unpopular as a person if I ever lost the filter that turns that sentiment about judgmental so and so’s into a smile and the phrase “different strokes for different folks hey”

With this in mind I thought I’d tell you what my wahming (being a work from home mom) is like these days…

-Thursday morning I cuddle into bed with my angelic two year old as the sun streams in through our favorite tree, the nanny takes him to sort him out for school and such and I go to yoga, before popping off to the spa, I get home to freshly squeezed organic vegetable juice and quickly pop in to see how my workers are doing on the spring collection I’m very excited to bring out.
I log onto the net and surf for a while then come out to my beautiful little cherub eating his lunch neatly at his table. We then put on our matching running shoes and take a walk through the park, I do another quick check in on workers and then Rob comes home and we have a healthy balanced meal that magically appeared in my pristine kitchen and then, I wake up and my real life starts…

– Actually on Thursday mornings I wake up at 6.15 (incidentally that is sleeping in for me because we are usually in the car on our way to work then) I get ready and then wrangle an unresponsive toddler out of bed.
He tries every trick in the book to not go to school, like hiding his shoes, faking injuries and emotionally blackmailing me by telling me school makes him sad, can he stay with me as I make him happy…
 I get him into his car seat and then drag him into the school building where he cries, goes limp and acts like I’m leaving him as a sweat shop, I hardly leave the driveway and he is merrily playing with his friends.
Then it’s get home, and do some blog admin over a hearty breakfast of whatever is quickest, usually coffee and a fruit. Then it’s admin for Oh!Boy… I take and make orders on a weekly rotation so it’s quick stock take before I’m off to material shop for supplies and back home to get as much sewing done as I can before I have to pick up Aidan -I try to fit in some form of exercise around this time too.
Then I bring him home, make him a balanced critic approved lunch, beg and plead with him to eat it, then give in to yet another, Provita, apple and yogurt meal.
 He then wants to watch some TV, usually one episode of Mickey Mouse Club House followed by one other show about some kid who seems to be without their parents all the time like Dora, Jake and so on – I use this time to do some more sewing.
After TV we do a mom and me activity like crafting, play dough, play in nearby park for a hour or so, then we get back home and I hope Rob has something he is dying to cook or wants to buy because if not I have to cook with a toddler dying to “help you mummy”.
I then set Aidy up with a puzzle, colouring activity, books, blocks and get some work done, he often ends up by Ma (my mom) after this to pick up his cousin/brother Caleb who he would have asked for quite a few times by now…
They go off, I evaluate how much I have done and how much needs to be done…
Rob comes home we do the usual family time, bath time, bed time thing and if I didn’t do enough to my liking I let them sleep and finish up.
On Friday I do it all over except that I have early morning Gifts&Goodies meeting with my partner Jill where we touch base, shop and create till I need to pick up the Tyke. On crazy days I bring him with me back to her place where he plays with her kids; 4-year-old Madison and 3-year-old Levi, they almost ALWAYS fight and one always cries, but they can’t get enough of each other either… so yes my life is all  LUXURY BIATCHES!!! jealous much 🙂

I’m not complaining though, we all get annoyed when our life decisions are questioned but I’m happy, I have always been the type that needed to be doing different things at the same time to truly relax and be me… I thrive on the crazy and things have been really crazy but I love it, honestly 🙂 apart from maybe a nice cash injection, I wouldn’t change my life for anything right now.

Mommy moment Monday: Revinia

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Today’s mommy is one of my oldest and dearest friends, most people assume we are related as she’s younger than me, but we spent tons of time together growing up…We are kinda cousins by choice, hehe. One of those friends who comes over and all we do is watch YouTube with wine 🙂
I also happen to be Godmother to her beautiful daughter, Zoey



Who are you:
I am the mum of a very busy 4 year old little girl named Zoey,manager of a retail store and wife.

Tell us of a time that your kiddo made you cringe:
We were at a funeral and while the coffin is being lowered and everyone is crying and feeling highly emotional she starts singing Ushers` song “I don’t mind” and dances like its a party.

Tell us about the time you felt like you were winning at the mommy thing:
After doing weeks of nursery rhymes and counting and colours with her I thought I should just giv up like this child not getting it,then when friends came over she put on a show saying all the nursery rhymes and counting I felt so proud


How motherhood changed you:
 I think its changed me and my perspective on life in so many ways but to name one its made me more accepting to changes I used to be very rigid and steadfast in my ways,but with a kid nothing is ever set in stone you must be flexible.

What do you wish you knew before becoming a mom:
.I wish I knew that it doesn’t matter how prepared you think you are there will be curve balls and you must learn to wing certain things as they come,and as much as you read up you will make mistakes,just learn from them.

Mommy Moment Monday : Ronethea

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I’m loving the Mommy Moment Monday, it’s a time to put all the mommy wars behind us, “OMG! is that formula!!!” , “what, you are STILL breast feeding”, “Why do you only have one kid, you so selfish!”, “Why do you have so many kids, you so selfish!”, “Ohhhh cloth nappies, ooooh disposable nappies, ooooh organic, ooooh junk food” sheesh, BREATHE PEOPLE , BREATHE keyboard ninjas and forum attackers 🙂

I really just want to show that at the end of it all we want what is best for our kids so if you are a mom and are willing to be interviewed PLEASE drop me a line.

Today I’m featuring my cousin Ronethea, she was the first person close to me to become a mom, not counting my aunts (duh) her daughter Taylor (6) has been featured here, countless times 🙂

Here is what Ronethea has to say.

1. Who are you?
I’m a 20-something single woman who happens to be a student, worker and a mom

2.Tell us about the time kiddo made you cringe
We recently changed churches, on our first visit, Tay , who was not used to live bands in service put her hands up to her ears and loudly announced that they were “making a noise”. It was so awkward!

3. Tell us about one moment you felt like you were winning at this mommy thing 
Everytime Taylor gives me a super hug and tells me I’m the best mum in the whole wide world (YAY) 😀 …

 4. How has mamahood changed you/your life
It totally flipped my whole world upside down… Looking back I can only thank God each day for my life and my blessing, Princess Taylor.

 5. What do you wish you knew before
They don’t hand out Mummy Manuals at birth (ai jai jai)… Here’s to learning new things each and every day 😀

Me&Ronethea 🙂

10 first movie tips for tots

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A week or so ago we took Aidan to the movies for the first time…It had been raining quite often and most restaurants with indoor play areas results in either Rob or I awkwardly watching him play while the other dines alone, so we wanted a change.

Aidan is still pretty young (28months/2years), most people wait for at least 3-4, but I must say despite his age, it was a success. He sat through the movie and has already asked when we can go again…also “sooooo much popcorn mummy”

I am by no means an expert this is just my opinion, but I figured why not share what I learnt, so here goes: 

Tips for taking a tot to the movies….

– Know your kid.
Would he/she be able to sit quietly through a whole movie? In my opinion it’s not an age thing as much as a temprement thing. My friends’ twins are the same age (shocker) but we are certain one will take to the movies far better than the other. Aidan has TV time daily and will utilise the full time period (also known as; you watch this so mommy can finish some work time) so I suspected he could sit through a movie.

– Choose your time well
We went midday on a weekday to reduce the chance of having a theatre full of annoyed people if kiddo decided to act out.

– Choose your movie well
Make sure it is age appropriate and that it doesn’t run too long (sidebar: I don’t like long movies myself unless it is a good Bollywood one).We watched inside out which in hindsight was a little emotional for him.

– Skip the trailers
The less time they are forced to sit still the better.

– Prepare them
I believe in explaining “big” things to him, it gets him excited for the event and he is less overwhelmed. In this case, he is not a fan of the dark so I explained that the lights would go off, but then a “big TV” would go on and he was fine with it 🙂

– 2D over 3D
It’s a lot to ask of a kid to wear plastic glasses for 90min so if possible go for 2D. We didn’t have the 2D option, he wore the glasses but only because mommy and daddy were…He hated it though.

– Choose an aisle seat
It’s easier to make a quick retreat in an aisle seat, incase of tantrums or bathroom breaks (we are only just starting potty training so the latter is not for me yet)

– Don’t be too invested in the movie
If your kid doesn’t want to sit through the whole film be prepared to walk away from your overpriced seats 😉

– Pick up on queues
I noticed that Aidan was getting a little uncomfortable/tense when he reached for my hand…I checked if he wanted to go, but he insisted on sitting through albeit on my lap.

– Soak up the excitement
Nothing like seeing things like this though a child’s eyes… things we take for granted are magnified and made even more special with them 🙂

Mamahood on being moms

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Lizanne’s kids are on the left Zac is 1 and Julian is 4 and Candice’s son Rocco,3, is on the right 




It’s Mama Moment Monday 🙂 So because I think I’m super cute and smart I asked the ladies who started Mamahood on FB (It’s this online mom forum that has REALLY taken off around South Africa) about Mamahood (see what I did there). Candice Littleford and Lizanne Oved are AWESOME I interviewed them earlier this year for THIS ARTICLE and have watched them grow in cyber space since then… GOOD WORK LADIES! 

Here is what they had to say, Candice is the one answering , hence the Lizanne and I 😉

Tell us about the time kiddo made you cringe 
 Well, we can’t think of anything that made us cringe per say, but we do have a good laugh at the things our kids get up. Little Zac thinks he is superman and keeps jumping from couch to couch much to Lizanne’s shock and  horror. I have been on the phone with Lizanne on numerous occasions, where I have heard her literally jump out of her skin and run to see if Zac’s has survived his last attempt at couch flying. This makes us both laugh as my son has always been a very busy and adventurous lad and Lizanne always felt like she got off lightly with well behaved Julian.

Tell us about one moment you felt like you were winning at this mommy thing
 There is nothing more amazing or rewarding than hearing your son tell you how much he loves you and every time my son Rocco tells me my heart completely melts and it makes being a mom the best thing ever. Whenever Lizanne fetches Julian from school, she is amazed at how excited he gets when he sees his brother Zac. He takes little Zac by the hand and shows him off to his buddies. This gets Lizanne every time as its so great to see the bond forming between the brothers.

 How has mamahood changed you/your life 
 MAMAHOOD has changed our lives for the better and for the busier. We are blown away by the way everyone has embraced MAMAHOOD. We feel so privileged to have created such an amazing and kind platform for all moms in South Africa and that is a GREAT feeling. We get inspired by our mama’s everyday and we love creating new and exciting elements to our MAMAHOOD village. We have also been so busy behind the scenes designing and creating an amazing website that will be a great resource for all moms out there. We are very proud at what we have created and we cannot wait to show you all, we will be launching very soon so keep a look out on our Facebook groups for this.

What do you wish you knew before 
I think for both of us we wish we knew how much it took to juggle working full time and trying to be the best mom’s we can be. When we started out MAMAHOOD was at first a part-time project, but quickly progressed and grew to be the village it is today. We always hoped that MAMAHOOD would be something great, but not in our wildest dreams could we ever have imagined the true community it has become.

Do connect with Mamahood it’s awesome, you can ask for advice and things any day with the added bonus of Monday(Business listings) Tuesday (Featured Business) Wednesday (Bloggers) Thursday (Featured Product/Service)  Friday (Featured Competition/Special) Saturday (Featured Expert) there is also a pre-loved group for all those hardly used baby  stuff you would like to get rid of, I mean bless someone else with at a steal 🙂

EASTERN CAPE
CAPE TOWN
GAUTENG
NATAL
GARDEN ROUTE
FREE STATE
MPUMALANGA

Kid’s are non refundable, right?

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To whom it may concern…
I am writing to bring to your attentions a few aspects of my product which are not at all as advertised.
I know that most warranties expire after two years so this is by no means an attempt to acquire a replacement, instead I would just appreciate if you were to revise your advertising campaign.
Firstly thank you for the item, it is more beautiful than I could ever imagined…There are a few inconsistencies though.
According to the advertising (which played mostly in my head while pregnant) the item in question should be interested in a variety of foods.
I had every intention of making bento boxes and smoothies(just check my pinterest feed) I was under the impression we would chat over milk and biscuits and he would beg to lick the spoon when I bake…that feature is yet to kick in. In fact I think you might have shipped me a solar powered version.
Secondly our shopping trips are nothing like advertised (again mostly in my head) there is no strolling through the shops in heels as a well behaved tyke holds my hand and I push a trolley filled with organic goodies.
In fact just yesterday I had said tyke half way up the shelves in Clicks (I kid you not),chanting “I like to climb up and up” I picked him up (or down in this case) and had him flailing under my arm as he attempted to lick my hand because apparently his tongue tasted funny. This was a step up as reprimanding him is usually met with blowing spitty raspberries or playing dead.
I put him down and he made a giggly run for it… This glitch comes about at least twice a day and was not advertised…The product is much faster than expected, also way more slippery and much dirtier.
The walking setting seems to have been replaced by running and talking by screaming.

He doesn’t seem to have the built in stand there and be quiet feature either…He insists on greeting everyone everywhere we go…He had a melt down when someone asking for food at our door didn’t give him a fist bump (cried for like 15min because “uncle didn’t say hello”). Don’t get me started on the “sads” brought on my shop keepers not engaging in conversation and not accepting his clumsy 2 year old help…”I fix,I fix” , “Aidy can”, “Aidy help” …
This product is not at all what I expected, but if you try to take it from me I will chase you down with the speed developed from chasing him around and beat you down with the strong arms acquired from wresting him down 🙂 
… feeling silly this Tuesday have an awesome day all