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#ECMeetUp: Meet the speakers
So as you may know, our last #ECMeetUp blogger gathering takes place next week Saturday and I’ll pretty much be aaacking from now until then. I’m just so gosh darn excited! Okay, for starters, if you haven’t purchased your ticket, you literally have a couple of hours to do so! Secondly, yes there will be mini meet goodie bags (I know you’re wondering, so allow me to be that person). Thirdly, our venue, The Boma is literally the most magical place on earth! And lastly, yes, our awesome speakers are ready to answer any and every single “but why don’t brands wana work with me huh?!” related question.Talking about speakers, have I told you who they are yet? No?! Gasp! The sheer audacity of me to withhold this information from you! Apologies, my dear friends, here they are:
Gillian Pillay
Gillian is the Marketing Manager over at Mastertons Coffee and the owner of the newly launched The Beauty Store. Besides for managing all things marketing and PR, for the Bay’s most favorite coffee roastery, she basically runs her makeup store on the side and works hard to bring high quality brands to our shores. She has quite a bit of experience working in the PR and marketing industry and is going to share a few golden nuggets about relationship building.
Melissa de Klerk
Mel is the brains behind Fox & Owl Media – a studio focused on web design and digital marketing strategy. She focuses on building beautiful, state-of-the-art websites that propel business growth. Melissa believes that your online home is a business asset and the ultimate storefront. She loves learning about her clients’ businesses so that she can design bespoke solutions that best serve a business’ needs. She will be sharing more on how to make your site more appealing and professional looking, in a nutshell. From hosting to lay out, there is just SO much (on the tech side) that we all want to know about! If you have any questions please feel free to pop them on this post and we’ll get them to Melissa.
Reuann Smith
Our beloved Reu is the PR sweetheart behind Nelson Mandela Bay Tourism. NMBT is the destination marketing organization of the city, taking care of all the city’s Public Relations, communications and advertising needs. Reu has worked on countless influencer campaigns, in and around the city and believes in the value of the local influencer. She has a deep passion for our city and more so for the people of the Bay. We really can’t wait to hear what she has to share wrt working with brands. She’ll tackle the nitty gritty’s like what is expected of you when you agree to work on a campaign.Excited? Me too! So there you have it peoples of the Bay! #ECMeetUp tickets cost R150 and can be purchased by using the bank deets in the banner below. Oh, and before I forget, allow me to just say: Aaaack!
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“Christmas Crazy” has officially started!
So it’s November 1st and I’m over here trying hard to contain my inner jingle. In case you didn’t know, I really love Christmas and December, like, a lot! Let’s just say, when I jingle bells, I jingle all the way! (Thank you for your polite laughter) I’m not kidding though. My spirit animal is probably a reindeer. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, yo! I love everything about it. I love the gift wrapping and tree decorating. I love the horribly delightful, B-grade Christmas movies and eating trifle at 11pm after taking a late night swim. I’m ready for it. Are you? It’s time to get Christmas crazy! And to celebrate, I want to rub some of my festive off on you. No, it does not have a smell, I promise. But it does feel reaaaally good!
My Spreadsheet Brain and I have the following Christmas related content coming to a blog post near you:Music Monday
Remember how much I love Christmas music? Well, I will be sharing all the latest Christmas albums with you guys every Monday. And, thanks to Christian Art Media, we give away a bumper pack of Christmas albums to one lucky winner, at the end of the series! Check out our Music Monday posts, as of next week, to enter!Gift ideas and fun activities
Guys I’ve also spotted some really cool Christmas activities that I’d like to try out with the fam. Look, we all know that I have a lot of children. As the lazy holidays draws near, I’ll be hard pressed to find things to do that does not require me to rob a bank. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you in the know. I also have a bunch of really fantastic Christmas gift ideas to share with you guys! I mean, I really suck at choosing gifts for other people. I’ve begun to check out different gift ideas for the kids, my hubby and hey, for myself too. I mean, opening presents is like, my thing. Unwrapping presents comes second only to winning stuff. I like to win stuff. And I know that you like to win stuff too. So how about I run a couple of giveaways that would allow you to win some awesome Christmas gifts for you and your loved ones? Deal!Thankful Thursday
As you all know, I really value my relationship with God. Even though the glits and glamor of the festive season puts me on a natural high, I’m also all about celebrating baby Jesus. His birth and death is, after all, the foundation of my faith. I am so thankful for grace! Because of this, and to keep the main things main, I will be reviewing selected faith-inspired books from Christian Art Media, every Thursday. And yep, you guessed it, we will be gifting someone with a bumper pack of books at the end of this series too.Are you guys as excited as I am? Aaaack! What do you have planned for the festive season? Our tree goes up in two weeks time and I could not be more thrilled. Clearly.
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Loving your rebellious child {Giveaway!}
I was a rebellious child. Well, I was mildly rebellious. But I often wonder what on earth my parents were thinking when I fell pregnant at 19. Or when I went through my “party till I die“ phase. Granted, I was pretty much a good girl, but I’ve had my moments of basically throwing my parents hard work and sacrifice right back into their faces. Fortunately, that soon ended… we all made it out alive, with our original teeth intact. But it got me thinking: what would I do if one of my kids started rebelling? Well, the other day, I picked up a brilliant book titled ‘Loving your rebellious child‘ by H. Normal Wright, that deals with this tough subject! -
Little Lumps baby dungarees made me do it
Nothing makes me go all mushy more than a cute baby in a little dungaree set. I mean, can you even wrap your brain around the sheer adorableness of chubby thighs in tiny shorts? Exactly. I didn’t think so. Hold that thought ladies, and guard your ovaries, as I gift you with pictures of my smallest child wearing Little Lumps baby dungarees:
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Four kids later and I’m not coping
I know it looks super cool to have a big family. I mean, our family photo’s are lit because there’s literally one of us in every single size and age group. But in reality, I feel as if I’m not coping. Four kids later and I kinda want to take a permanent vacation somewhere not here. Please? Okay, let’s stop being dramatic for like, a few seconds.
It all started this morning (I’m talking about the mini-emo session that I’m currently having) when I realized that I drove to work on fumes. I had forgotten to refuel the car because we were in a hurry to get the kids to school and ourselves to work. By the time I eventually rocked up at the office, I realized that it was probably the good Lord himself who safely delivered me here because the cars fuel light had been flashing since yesterday afternoon. No jokes.
Life has been crazy with a capital “cray”. Jo is a baby, so that speaks for itself. Kari… well, she’s turning three years old soon and she’s as diva as they come. And this is not me bragging. Kyle and Seth are writing exams soon and then there’s the guilt that we aren’t doing enough for them and with them. Pair this up with the fact that we only have one car now, and can you see where I’m going with this? (Or not going. One car, remember?)
Besides for just not having enough time or like, mental capacity, to parent four children and stay sane at the same time, you must remember that we also need to pay the school fees of four children. So a lot of side hustling happens regularly, with me writing and Chris computer-ing and music-ing (what else would you call it), but this means that we’re permanently busy. Oh and I didn’t even mention the other commitments we have. To top that off, we are married! Granted, it’s to each other and we can cut each other some slack on the married front, surely. But still. I can’t remember the last time I held my hubstopher’s hand, for FUN.
Anyways, so with that said, I’ve decided to take this moment and write a little emo post. Mainly because I know that “this too shall pass” and because I want to have this moment documented somewhere for the day when it does, so that I can look back and go “ahh, see, it did pass.” But also because I know that I’m not the only mom going through a complete season of overwhelm right now.I’m not saying it’s “okay” to be overwhelmed. But I am saying that it’s okay to feel as if you don’t have all your ish together, all of the time. So this ones for you mom, who feels as if you’re not coping too. I see you, girl. You’ve got this. This too shall pass. This too shall pass.
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Free The Smart Talk app helps to control your kids screen time
Have you guys heard of the The Smart Talk? It’s a really cool (free) interactive platform that provides tools for parents to set online security rules, for their kids. I mean, let’s face it, data safety and identity safety is a big deal right now (remember the time that I was catfished?) Have you considered the fact that you need to control your kids screen time?
We’ve been especially trusting when it comes to Kyle and his online activity. I mean, I don’t even really check his cellphone. And the thing is, no one wants to be the parent who launches into a full on FBI investigation when it comes to your kids electronic devices. It can be useful to keep a service like LifeLock (who partnered with National PTA to put together the Smart Talk site) running in the background incase your child’s online identity was compromised without you noticing. Oversharing has become the new norm (and I can say this, because you’re reading my blog right now, point and case). We should be talking to our kids about the potential dangers of social media and we should be monitoring their device usage. We need to be setting rules for our kids wrt screen time, what they are watching and who they are able to be in communication with.
And that’s why I really love the idea behind The Smart Talk platform. The website is really easy to navigate and creates opportunity for you and your child to determine what their online boundaries should be. Things like screen time (when is it allowed, and for how long etc), social media and even apps and which downloads are permissible, is taken into account.At the end of the little survey, you and your child enter into an official family agreement, that sets certain rules in place. The agreement is personalized and printable and you guys can sign on it, to make it official. Stick it up on on your fridge, as a friendly reminder, to help safe guard your kid against the perps of the online world, and hey, to empower them to be smart digital citizens.
What do you guys think about this? Have you set any boundaries in place wrt screen time? Drop your thoughts and pieces of advice in the comment section below.
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I get why it’s illegal for parents to spank their kids
It is the year 2017. A time where we keep our front doors locked, in the peak of summer. A time where it makes perfect sense to jump a red robot at 2am, because you never know who might rock up at your window. A time where we’re afraid to eat the chicken in case it has flu. And a time where it has become illegal for parents to spank their children.
Oh the shock! The horror! The outrage! We should be allowed to spank our kids! I hear you say. You’re right. I mean, why ban corporal punishment in the home? What does this even mean?!
Well, no, it does NOT mean that the Johannesburg High Court has decided to “keep up with the Kardashians” and is now feeling as if corporal punishment is like, soooo, not on trend at the moment. In case you didn’t know, the term “corporal punishment” basically refers to any punishment which uses physical force to bring about pain or discomfort. And alas, the percentage of parents who have severely injured their kids, under the guise of ‘giving a good spanking’ are just too high. Their lack of anger management means that the high court has to step in, in order to protect our kiddos.
So, as much as I agree that it sucks. (I mean, have you read my “angry mom” post? I like, SO, want to be able to give my kids a spanking without being charged for assault.) But let me remind you about the gross injustice so many of our young South Africans face, on a daily basis, at the hands of family members and parents who are suppose to care for them, and not hurt them.
This affects all of us and the way we raise our children. I mean, let’s be honest, a large percentage of us South African parents know when to draw the line between punishment and assault, when it comes to giving our kids a spanking. But unfortunately, the High Court has to stick up for the kids of the parents who kinda don’t.
So that’s where we are at, South Africa. Our children deserve better.
What are your thoughts on the new law?
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Myang sun hats brings the shade this summer
Myang did what I thought would be impossible: they made my seriously adorable kids look even more seriously adorable. Seriously. Well I already knew that the proudly South African boutique are stockists of the most delightful baby and toddy accessories and clothes. But when when I opened a package containing their newest edition, funky sun hats, I literally “aacked” out loud. (AOL?) -
Review: Goodsky vacuums your blackheads!
If you’re a blackhead fiend, then you’ll be interested to know that the Goodsky Blackhead Blemish and Acne Pore Vacuum Extraction Tool is now available in South Africa. You never have to pop a pimple again! Well, you shouldn’t be popping your pimples anyways, yo. It is damaging to your skin and can leave permanent scarring and blemishes. -
Going tutu with KidCoCo {Giveaway!}
My girl goes tootoos for tutus! Seriously. It’s the first thing she grabs when she wakes up each morning. Her special collection is lovingly referred to as her “pwincess skirts” and guys, even if the hair aint brushed and the face aint washed, when she wears her tutu she believes that she IS a princess. So can you imagine the excitement when Salma of KidCoCo sent over a special package just for her? KidCoCo is one of my fave local kiddies boutiques and as a semi-pro at tutu buying, I would just like to officially state that the new KidCoCo tutu skirts are of the highest caliber, as far as tutu skirts go.
