-
My top 5 parenting posts are full of drama
Apparently this space is called a parenting blog. I say “apparently” because when I started blogging I didn’t like, have a formula or a specific niche in mind. I just enjoy talking. And singing. I sometimes sing while I’m talking. But that’s not the point. I have a lot to say, man. And I loved that this blog space allowed me to say what I want, without anyone tell me to be quiet.
I’ve met a bunch of really fabulous mamas while on this blogging journey. Yep, I’m talking about you guys… the ones who message me with tips and tricks when I’m struggling to get my child to make a poo. Or the ones who send me words of encouragement when I act like a pansy about the fact that I’m getting a hair cut. Or the ones who DM me to ask for advice about situations that you’re going through… thank you for choosing me to be your safe space. You guys are amazing.
And hey, thank you for reading. I mean, without you, I’m pretty much just outchere talking to myself (not uncommon, but like, thanks for not letting me man).
Anyways, with this in mind I thought to list some of YOUR top 5 parenting posts, shared on this ol’ blog, over the years. I quite like these too, so you guys have excellent taste. Here they are:
Not worthy for Mother’s DayI often chat about my introduction to parenthood. I mean, I was like, 19 when I gave birth and totally not ready for it. Which is why I so loved the Embrace Motherhood campaign. This campaign is targeted at new moms who, on Mother’s Day, may be feeling overwhelmed, ill-equipt and not worthy to be someone’s mom. That’s exactly how I felt on my first few Mother’s Days. Read more…
Boy or Girl: Fun baby gender prediction testsWhen I found out I was preggers with Jonah, I was more than a little shocked. He was a surprise baby – a blessing on top of a blessing – and we were okay with it being a boy or a girl. Before we got the gender result from the doctor’s blood test, we tried out a bunch of gender prediction tests to see which one would give us the more accurate result. Anyways, turns out Jojo was a… well, a Jojo. As we all know now. But it was so fun to try all of these out while we waited to find out what the gender would be. Read more…
When you’re dating a single momThis post was especially close to my heart. I was a single mom for a few years before I met my Hubstopher and let me tell ya, those were perilous times! It’s so hectic to juggle a love life with being ..errr.. kinda EVERYTHING your child needs, all at the same time! My wise friend once told me: “single mom does not mean single heart!” and that is so true! If you’re a single mom, navigating the treacherous waters of the dating sea, my prayers are with you sister! Read more…
10 Perks of having kids at a young ageI wrote this post a couple of years ago and people still seem to find it relevant (and by “relevant” I mean “awkward but amusing”). I’ll admit, having Kyle at the tender age of 19 was anything BUT amusing. But being able to watch him sail through his teens, while still being a teen myself (cough)… priceless! I highly recommend it. Check the post for terms and conditions though. Read more…
Ever had to deal with that baby mama dramaLook, the traditional family looks a lot different now a days, compare to like, nineteen-voetsek. Blended families are a thing. Being a “baby mama” is not something you only see in movies. And baby mama drama is not uncommon. You know I’m right. What’s my point? Well, what I want to say is that I know what baby mama drama looks like because I am that very same baby mama and I’ve caused drama before. There, I’ve said it. This post resonated with a lot of you. Heck, it STILL resonates with me sometimes. And that’s okay. Read more…
Which of these are your faves? Or which of my other parenting posts hit the nail on the head for you? And, most importantly, what would you like me to chat about next? I’m asking because I sometimes have no cooking-clue what to say and having a little guide would help. Hit me up in the comments section below.
-
Cake smash alternative: First Birthday Paint Session!
Okay, so you’re a mom and you’re scouring the internet for ideas on how to document your little one’s first birthday. But for some reason, the idea of having your baby dig into a cake is just not appealing. That’s okay. You’re in a safe place, you can confess. Maybe playing with food is not your scene. Or maybe you feel like you need a fresh approach to the whole thing. Well, guess what, Michelle of Cutepix Photography now offers moms a first birthday cash smash alternative: The First Birthday Paint Session! You guys, I LOVE this idea! And yes, I know, the way I gush on and on about Michelle’s work is a bit dramatic. But trust me, it’s sooooo well deserved! She is super creative and I love that she thinks out of the box. I mean, her latest shoot with Jo was pretty darn sweet! Scroll down for proof.
I love everything about a paint session photo shoot, you guys! For starters, as I’ve said, smashing cake might not be your baby’s thing. In fact, Kari cried through out her cake smash shoot, because she did not like the texture of the cake on her hands. She would totally have enjoyed a first birthday paint shoot!
Jo really got into it. Once he had the paint brush in his hand, he somehow knew that he is meant to use it to paint on the canvas. (I told ya he’s a genius!) He loved messing around with the colors and, yup, ended up painting his hair. Messy, but it made for such great pics AND double score: messy play is such a great teaching tool anyways.
Michelles paint session package only costs R800. That’s a freaking bargain! Included in the package:
– A photo shoot of your kid painting. You get between 60 – 80 photos.
– She provides the canvas and paint. The paints are all non toxic and kiddie friendly.
– You get to keep the masterpiece at the end of the shoot (This is SUCH a brilliant idea for a gift!)
– At the end of the shoot, you can pop your kid into a bubble bath at the studio, for an extra little photo shoot, complete with baby and bubbles!
All for R800. Madness, I tell you!
If you’re not sure why I think it’s madness, please do have a look at the photos that Michelle took of my little ones. You’ll see that her work is quality. She also has a lot of patience which makes it easy for kids to be calm around her. I highly recommend her services! For more check out the Cutepix website. For bookings, please email Michelle directly. She is a busy lady so book your time slot asap!
(Clip note: Cutepix Photography is based in Nelson Mandela Bay)Other photo shoots Michelle has done for me:
Jonahs First Birthday Nautical Themed Cake Smash
Jonahs Newborn Pics
Cadbury Oreo Enrobed Party
Kari’s First Birthday Carnival Themed Cake Smash
Williams Family Photos
-
Mommy and daughter pamper with Amani Spa at Radisson Blu
Look, if anything, Kari has inherited my love for all things girly. I mean, my child is the girliest girl in all of the world! (And hey, that rhymes too) So we were super duper chuffed when the lovely Radisson Blu team invited us to visit their Amani Spa for some school holiday fun. Amani Spa is an award winning, leading spa brand recently partnered with Nelson Mandela Bay’s own Radisson Blu, located on the beach front.
The name ‘amani’ means ‘peace’ and guys, this is exactly what I felt as we entered the tranquil, beautiful setting at the boutique hotel. I love that the spa brand is 100% owned and operated by women, and is dedicated to female empowerment. Girl power! Each spa is unique in respect of location, client and ambiance. Your experience is personalized and the service and care is exceptional. And while school holidays can be pretty bland, what better way to treat your girl than to give her a proper spa experience? I mean, one that won’t involve me sitting on a couch and watching her get pampered… mommy needs some pampering too!
On arrival, we were offered some beverages and little miss politely accepted orange juice, while living the life on a spa chaise, overlooking our beautiful beach front. She had a gazillion questions and exclaimed “it’s so wonderful!” a million other times, so it’s safe to assume that she was excited. We had to keep her quiet though… I mean, the kid does not own an inside voice as of yet. Our lovely spa therapists give us an express mani and pedi, complete with the full works and (her personal fave) a glitter accent nail. She was so pleased with herself. Fortunately, the Amani Spa therapists are so warm, friendly and above all, PATIENT. They answered every question, waiting patiently while she went to the loo, like, 9238471 times (it’s how she gets me to explore a new place with her) and redid her mani when she accidentally smudged it. How’s that for dedication!
I was quite impressed to learn that the spa offers a Young Adults and Tiny Tots menu. Both include spa treatments from as little as R190. Your young adult (12 – 16 years) will feel especially fabulous after one of the spa’s Glowing Facials which lasts for a whole 45 minutes! Kari really loved the toddler treatments, even though it’s aimed at kids aged between 6 to 11 years.
But whatever your age, Amani Spa has something for you. From Mom To Be packages to bridal treatments (there’s even an Amani Man menu!). If you’d like to see what’s on offer, check out the Radisson Blu PE Amani Spa menu on the website or visit the Radisson Blu Port Elizabeth Facebook page to stay up to date with what is hot and happening at the boutique hotel and for more school holiday ideas in the bay! -
5 reasons why you need to stop asking me to have another baby
It’s no secret, we have more children than members of Destiny’s Child. I mean, if you told me a couple of years ago that my reign in the ‘Single Mommy Hood’ would be short-lived and replaced with a full on explosion of many children, I would’ve laughed at you. But years later, here I sit stretch mark bedecked and permanently exhausted due to the fact that I seem to enjoy buying nappies. (Kidding) And yet, people still ask me when I’m popping out the next little Williams. Bless their hearts. But seriously guys, you need to stop asking me to have another baby. Here’s why:
Mommy incubator
I am more than just my ovaries, you guys! I must admit, having Jo and Kari so close after each other has taken a serious toll on my body. Like, I have problems that were not problems before. But, health aside, I also miss the superficial things. You know, like being able to fit into basically every item of clothing that I owned pre-Karis. As much as I love being pregnant (and I don’t take this gift for granted at all), after popping out 3 kids, I definitely love being not pregnant a whole lot more.School fees
Consider paying school fees for one child. Now multiply that by 4. That is all.
(Hahahaha, joking, that isn’t all. We also have to buy food and clothes and pay for extra murals and medical aid and trips to the movies. Joy.)Quality time, shmality time
The last time I held my husbands hand was last week when he had to pull me up from the bathroom floor, because I slipped on someone’s something. It’s the toys, you guys! They’ve taken over my house! But besides for that, there is ALWAYS something that needs to be picked up, or cleaned, or sorted out. I miss the days where my Hubstopher and I could be romantic on the couch, without like, a Barbie doll staring at me, in judgement and disdain.Car seat ooh na na
So if you have many children and only one car, consider what that means if you’re wanting all of them to be buckled in safely and correctly at the same time. It has seriously become a huge problem for us. I know… buy a bigger car. Sure thing, Scrooge McDuck, let me quickly take a swim through my many fortunes and gather some money to do this. #realtalk #reallife #goawaySomebody call Dr Phil…
I don’t want to give my children issues, okay? We try to make all four of them feel loved and noticed and important. It’s no small feat, yo. I mean, Kari is a little jealous if Jo gets too much attention. And then Seth only sleeps over on weekends, so he should surely get as much attention as possible right? But then, Kyle is now in full blown teenager mode and we don’t want to make him feel left out. Its cray cray, ya’ll! Add one more to this mix? Uhhh…I do believe we have reached maximum capacity. I mean, we may have our hands full, but we’re managing somehow. (God. It has to be God.) And yes, I definitely do want to consider adopting at some point (in the far, far future), but as for right now? We’re good, thanks.
Header image taken by Cutepix Photography For more, check out their website.
-
Doing it for “the church”…
Chris and I often find ourselves meandering from one big church event to another, while trying to keep our family alive on all the days in between. We are actively involved at our local church and we attend church related activities twice or thrice a week. The other day my dear ol’ Hubstopher said to me: “We need to stop being so busy!” And that’s when I pointed and laughed, as my smartphone lingo suggests: rolling on the floor and laughing my butt off (how does one even do this) at the mere thought of spending a single week in absolute peace and monotony. The truth is that we excel when we are being used. And not ‘used’ as in ‘married to a gold digger’ used. Used as in: available to serve and help. Doing it for “the church”, as some may suggest.
I know it can feel like a lot to someone else who doesn’t “get it”. In fact, I was once told: “oh, your Pastor must enjoy all this free help”. It made me cringe. I cringed not because my Pastor was called out on the fact that he has a wonderful team of volunteers who love serving for free. No, I cringed because someone was daft enough to think that we do this purely for a person.
We don’t help out at our church because we want to make a pastor or a leader happy. Actually, we don’t “do it for the church” at all. We help out at our local church because we want to serve God with our lives and our gifts and abilities.
And we serve God by assisting our local church (with our lives and our gifts and abilities) under the covering of a God-fearing Pastor. We serve by putting the needs of others first and by being mindful of the congregation. You know, we do it for the people who only come on a Sunday, when we’ve been here the whole week.
I see people complaining about their religious institutions on social media, quick to point out hungry children that could be fed with church offerings and destitute families that could be saved with church resources. That’s great. Your heart is maybe in the right place. So why don’t you do something about it? Our journeys are different, my friend. God may have called you to reach those on mission fields. And He may have called me to reach those who sit in pews on Sundays. Comparison is a thief.
Anyways, this was not what I wanted to talk about today. I’m not sure how it escalated this quickly. So take it as you read it. I know that the debate is rife. People have a lot of opinion about how much time and money you’re suppose to give to “the church”. But I’m not here for that.
I’m just here to say that if I had to re-evaluate where we are at and how we got here, I totally don’t regret my small attempt at sacrificing my comfort for someone elses. After all, Jesus did it too.
-
2018 Fifa World Cup beginners guide
It’s soccer world cup season and if you’re anything like me, you’ve jumped onto the bandwagon even though you don’t really watch soccer. Don’t look at me like that Paul, the excitement is kind of infectious! But how does it all work anyways? I mean, yes I know the ball must go into the net and all of that. Got it. But what’s with this points system? And who decides which teams play against which? (I mean, I’m a mother, I need to know that things are fair around here.) And most importantly, how will I know if my team is doing well? Well, I’ve decided to share all my soccer world cup knowledge with you guys. It’s not much, but it’s something atleast, right? Anyways, enough chit chat, here is my 2018 Fifa World Cup beginners guide:
How the teams are split up
So, this is trivial, but in case you wanted to know how the first round of teams are split up: The 32 teams who have qualified are split into four-team groups. The groups are drawn from four pots – so that’s basically one team from each pot. Teams are actually placed in these pots according to their position in the Fifa world rankings for October. (So there’s a piece of information you’d never thought you’d need to know.) Russia (automatically put into pot one) is the only exception, since they are the host country. In case you’re curious, the line up for the pots are:
Pot one: Russia (hosts), Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, France
Pot two: Spain, Peru, Switzerland, England, Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico, Croatia
Pot three: Denmark, Iceland, Costa Rica, Sweden, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Iran
Pot four: Serbia, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Panama, South Korea, Saudi ArabiaSo from this, the teams were put into these groups: (Image courtesy of Fox Sports)
Group rounds
Spotted your team in one of the groups? Great stuff. Okay, right, what happens next? Well, your team will then play against the other three teams in their group. Points are handed out like this:
WIN – 3 points
DRAW – 1 point
LOSE – 0 points
The two teams with the most points, after these three games, will progress to the next stage of the competition. That’s right, yo. Only TWO teams!But wait, what about a tie?!
Yes, my spreadsheet brain is totally freaking out! I mean, what happens when the group stage is finished and some of the teams have acquired the same amount of points?! AAACK! Okay, settle down Margeret. Fifa and all the other clever people who take this type of thing seriously have figured it out. In an event of a tie, the winner is determined like this:
1. Goal difference – Whoever has the highest goal difference (which is simply: goals scored minus goals allowed).
2. Goal scored – In the event where the goal difference is equal too (these things happen), the winning team will be the one with the most goals scored.
3. Head to Head – If there is STILL a tie (what witchcraft is this?!) then the team who won the head to head match will go through. (eg. If Mexico and Sweden were tied, but Mexico beat Sweden in their head to head match, Mexico would go through).
4. Fair play points – If somehow teams remained tied through all of this, officials will have a look at their disciplinary records in the tournament. So basically, if they received a yellow card its -1 point, two yellows resulting in a red card will be -3 points, straight red card is -4 points, yellow card, then straight red card will be -5 points.
5. Lots are drawn – If there is bizarrely STILL a tie names are put into a hat, so to speak, and the first name pulled will go through! Crazy stuff!Knockout stage
The second and final world cup stage is a knock out round! So if your team loses any game in this stage, they are knocked out of the world cup. No second chance. No redo. In the event of a tie, a game will go into extra time, which means two extra halves of 15 minutes each are played. A penalty shoot out will determine the winner if there is still a tie after extra time.Round of 16
In this first round of knockout games, the top 8 is determined. This is the schedule:
Winners Group C vs Runners-up Group D
Winners Group A vs Runners-up Group B
Winners Group B vs Runners-up Group A
Winners Group D vs Runners-up Group C
Winners Group E vs Runners-up Group F
Winners Group G vs Runners-up Group H
Winners Group F vs Runners-up Group E
Winners Group H vs Runners-up Group GOnce the top 8 is determined, we then have the quarter-finals, semi-finals, third place play-off and then the final match! Laduuuuuma!
Right. So are you feeling a little bit more empowered and excited to get into this world cup thing? Good! Who are you rooting for? Drop me a comment below to let me know. -
FIFA World Cup 2018 activities to do with your family
If soccer fever has hit your household, and you’re not keen to hide away in your bedroom for a whole month (oh is it just me then?), why not embrace the ball, yo. The soccer world cup is actually the perfect reason to schedule some fun, quality time with the ones you love. Looking for some cool things to do this soccer season? Well here are five FIFA World Cup 2018 activities to do with your family:
Pick your team
Get some friendly competition going by having a team “lucky draw”. Instead of root for the world cup faves, get them to lucky draw a team from a hat. Put up a wall chart to mark each team’s progress. You could give points for goals scored and even deduct points for fouls. I would probably do a redraw once the top 8 teams are revealed. (Hint: Put together a hamper of treats for the person with the most points at the end)Get kitted out
Get your family to represent their team by wearing country colors on game days. You could even get them to paint their faces and make flags and banners. Give points for best kit, paraphernalia and team spirit. Double points if they can sing their teams national anthem, complete from start to finish!Food always wins
Big game days are a great time to have “foods of the world” on your snack menu. Ask the kids to do some research and you could even get them to help you out in the kitchen as you prepare the dishes. Soccer World Cup party, anyone?Fun facts
Half time is a great time to have some soccer trivia. The internet is your friend, yo. Put together a couple of soccer world cup trivia questions and allocate points for each correct answer. This is a great way to keep the hype going.Visit a fan park
Find out where the world cup fan parks are located in your city and be sure to visit one, on a big game day. Ain’t nothing like the real thing, but the fun vibe at a genuine fan park is close enough! (Hint: day games are better, if you’re going with kids)So that’s on my list of things to do during this world cup season. Do you have anything special planned? Let me know which of these FIFA World Cup 2018 activities you’ll be doing with your family.
Image: Fifa World Cup website
-
Hurt people hurt people
I remember feeling really small and insignificant in grade six. I was awkward and skinny and I actually liked doing my school work and hanging out with my baby sister. I wasn’t cool or popular. I didn’t do cool or popular things. I was reminded of my uncoolness often, by a mean girl who would pass comments about my gangly legs and oversized hair accessories (thanks mom). The mean girl was cool, so everyone laughed at her jokes. I laughed too. Leeanne didn’t laugh though. **Leeanne was the only other girl in our class who was a little more awkward and skinny than I was. She also did her schoolwork quietly and stayed out of everyone’s way. And so, because I was being bullied and laughed at, I ended up bullying Leeanne.
My bullying of Leeanne lasted all of one day (coz my mama taught me better than that) but in that one day, I was so mean to Leeanne that she actually cried. And when she cried I smirked at her and said “cry baby!” Disgusting, I know. Why am I telling you this? Well, because I was pathetic. But more than letting you in on my patheticness, I wanted to tell you guys about the time where I was so hurt that I hurt another person.
I’ve often heard the saying “hurt people hurt people” but only grasped the notion when I was in my twenties, nursing a broken heart given to me by a boyfriend who had commitment issues because his dad had abandoned him. It then dawned on me: sometimes people don’t realise that they are duplicating the very behavior pattern that may have shaped (or ruined) their lives. Maybe we are the product of our life experiences. Maybe some of us are still learning to master the art of taking the hurt and turning it into good.
We often view another persons’s perceived mean streak/gossiping/back biting as a character flaw. “What is her problem?!” But in actual fact, what you are seeing is not their truth… they’re keeping their truth buried deep down underneath a pile of defense mechanisms that are hard to bypass. Instead, you are shown something else… a coping mechanism probably picked up a long time before you even came along. We are all working through our own set of issues, friends. You, me, the neighbor who yells at your kids, the co-worker who has a problem with everyone… we’re all going through some ish!
This realization has helped me to extend grace to people. I mean, I’m not saying it’s easy guys. It’s not. We don’t get it right all the time. We are human beings and we have a lot of feelings, man! My “humanism” sometimes gets the better of me and I throw the stink eye to the guy whose trolley keeps bashing into mine, at the store. But remembering that people are just people (most of them hurting and fighting their own battles), helps me to show kindness towards Cynthia down the hall (who clearly hates my blog). And yes, I know that Gladys at the gym laughs at my hair behind my back. That’s okay too. I’ll still be nice. Even though she thinks my niceness is pretentious.
Why? Because hurt people hurt people. So that means loving on people will undo the hurt, right? Or something like that. I guess what I’m trying to say is that adding more hurt to the equation won’t solve the problem.
**Leeanne’s name was changed to protect her identity, but also, I can’t remember the girls name and surname! I’m hoping to connect with her, one day, to apologize.
Photo by dylan nolte on Unsplash
-
Everybody come see my new hair
This post is a few days late, but I had to dedicate a whole blog post to my new look. Why? Well, Coco Chanel says when woman cuts her hair, she is about to do something super duper amazing (okay that was part Coco Chanel, part “I cant remember so I put my own words in that quote”). But you guys, considering the fact that my hair has been the same length and color for most of my adult life, changing it was a big deal to me, okay? There, I said it. Don’t judge me. Well, if you’re going to judge me, only do it quietly behind my back, please. Kidding! Where was I going with this? Oh yes, my new hair. Well, this is the story all about how my life got flip turned upside down…
If you’re still around after that horrendous intro (complete with incorrect Coco Chanel quotes and a Will Smith rap piece) then you must really love me. So hello, friend! Let me tell you, the past few days have been straight up ridonkulous. For starters it was ECMeetUp and with that came enough craziness to render a successful Dr Phil reboot. But also, I decided to chop all my hair off on Friday. (And by “all”, I do mean “a little bit of it but it feels life changing okay?!”)
Why the big chop? Well, my hair has been breaking off so much that I pretty much freaked out like, alot (for those of you who sat through countless Instastories of me talking about my hair, I salute you). I do think that my brittle hair was due to postpartum hair loss coupled with the recent onslaught of grey hair. Guys, if I didn’t tell you before, let me say it now: my grey hair is poppin’ AND they seem to be duplicating. Let’s just say I became intimately acquainted with boxed hair dyes recently and yep, the ammonia has definitely damaged my tresses.
Enter: Michelle Kritzinger, the “hair whisperer” over at Stylish Steppers. You may recall, I’ve chatted about Michelle and her super powers a while ago. I am ashamed to admit that Friday was my first visit to her salon. Shocking, I know. Especially since half of Nelson Mandela Bay knows her and swears by her expert fingers. Anyways, Mish took one look at my hair and was like “we’re going to give you a whole new look!” Insert the loud, screeching “aaack” right here.
One thing I appreciated about Michelle is that she shared SO MUCH knowledge and information with me, while she was seeing to my mane. I’ll be sharing more about that soon! But for now, I can tell you that she decided to cut off all my dead hair because it was definitely weighing my tresses down. I think Michelle kept some of the length, because she didn’t want to give me a heart attack. She’s so kind.
She also decided to give me a lighter look because of my grey hair. She explained that the lighter your hair, the easier it is to conceal those grey hairs, when they come in. (Duh, Luchae.) So I might be going even lighter than this, over the next few months.
How do I feel about my hair? Well, guys, let’s be honest. I love the whole Kardashian look. I love having my hair long and dark (and easy and basic). I don’t have the time or energy to worry about styling my hair every morning. BUT I do love the versatility of this look. I do feel a bit more spunkier and a sense of freedom. Will I cut it again? Not sure. Do I love the color? Yep, I think a change from the all black was good. Would I recommend Michelle of Stylish Steppers to my friends? Heck to the yes!
So what do you ladies think? Do you like my new hair? Anything I should change, when I go back to Michelle next month?
-
Jonah’s first birthday nautical cake smash photo shoot
Learning that I was pregnant with our Jo came as a huge surprise. Let’s just say he was the sweetest surprise, out of all our surprises (another post, for another day). So when it came to celebrating his first birthday, I knew without a doubt that I needed to do a cake smash session with Michelle of Cutepix. Do you guys remember that Michelle took Jo’s newborn pics and Kari’s carnival themed cake smash? Anyways, I chatted to Michelle about having a first birthday nautical cake smash session and was THRILLED to hear that she still sources and makes all the props for the shoot AND she makes the cake. Seriously, all we had to do was rock up and smile. The result? Priceless! Check it out:
