Barney wins hand down – ! Ok I had some issues with Barney songs and the watching of Barney for the last few years. After an episode or 2 of the teletubbies I have welcomed back Barney with a blast! Really  not sure how 4 slurring over weight fur balls can be called entertaining. They are annoying, weak and a complete irritation.

Barney Barney – we all love you!

Ok so as a parent we are going to see the milestones and enjoy alot of them for sure. As I have said before there are great milestones and no matter how your child keeps growing up you seem to come up against these milestones and moments in their lives that mark a change. Competitiveness comes and goes in all ages and generally it can be childish fun or some serious times too. With 2 boys we hit a power milestone this week where Kyle the 3 year old bliksem his brother and declared himself the stronger brother. See Skye is the peacemaker, thoughtful, sweet child so he really is an easy target and the 18 month age gap has been decimated by power. Power starts at a young age, see it is a manly thing to stand up – survival of the fittest – see it starts even earlier in other animal kinds and I am sure it can be noticed in younger babies too, however this is more than the will to live this is taking on the sense of power. Interesting – thought I would share it with you – Hold on this is gonna be one helluva ride!

Is this not the cutest pic ever – went to a 3D recently and yes it is expensive however money well spent for the kids and parents that were able to enjoy and sit through the full movie. Think they should have kiddy training movies where it is only 30 minutes long with no ad breaks or trailers so you are able to get in enjoy and out without having to spend half the movie outside with a restless kid wiating for the balance of the party

Scissors – my entire life I have believed that you watch kids with scissors to prevent any accidents happening in the form of drawing blood. Well in my parenting years I have decided to re-evaluate this statement. Have you ever watched the mess and chaos that comes to the for with a pair of boys and 2 pairs of scissors? Well besides the hair incident they have trashed toys and a few reams of paper, books and loads more , luckily the dogs were wise enough to take flight from the scissor hands. Now I believe you need to watch the kids as to what they can destroy in seconds with these very useful utensils in their paws.

9 Sleeps….
When my husband had to go away on business last week, I thought, “How difficult could it be. It’s only 9 sleeps.”
Being as independent as i am we would be just fine since I do almost everything anyway. Well, supposedly not! ‘9 Sleeps’ has been very hard work. I quite conveniently forgot that:
- He cooks almost every day ( so much so that I have now got to ask for a turn to show-off my own cooking skills);
- He shares with the dropping and fetching from school;
- He sorts the kids out in the morning i.e. he is our drill sergeant so we can get to school on time. No dawdling allowed or coffee and tea in bed 
- He makes us our tea and coffee EVERY morning;
- He takes the dog out and feeds him every morning:
- He is the ‘fun master’ in our house! He can get a smile out of anyone even at the most inappropriate moments;
- And he does the daily/weekly shopping to make sure that we have stuff for lunch and dinner!
Whew!!! And probably a whole lot more. It’s no wonder I am so tired this week. It’s been a long ‘9 sleeps’.
After 14 years of marriage, 2 kids, 1 dog, a goldfish and many hamsters it’s pretty easy to start taking each other for granted. We often forget how well we work together and moments apart like this make us realise that we have become such a ‘well-oiled machine’ that a momentary break in the system can affect the entire output. We are a great team together and we can’t wait for our Captain to come back!
I love my independence…but it means nothing without the support of my husband. It’s the best of both worlds!

Projeni Pather

Just wanted to share “1st times”. You see while I am watching my boys grow up I have come to the realisation that 1st times are awesome. When the little guys were babies it was their first step, their first bath, their first sleep over with the grand parents or aunts/ uncles, the list goes on. Well you know what it does not stop – see have family that are sending their kids over seas for the 1st time on their own. Is that not brilliant! There is really so much fun and excitement to be had with your family I am loving it (Sorry Mcdonalds – I did spell it differently so no need for trademark letters) So we have 1st bike rides on their own, 1st day at school, 1st sleep over @ a friend the list careers on down the path of life and I think it is brilliant! I am really excited with the future with my family and my 1 boys.

Enjoy your 1st – see you have done it all already now you get to share the excitement of it all again with your kids!!! yayayay

The Tooth Fairy Journals

When my daughter’s first tooth fell out there was great excitement about the arrival of the tooth fairy, from everyone in our home including myself. Little did I realise what a journey this would be. So not only does our tooth fairy leave you a little present or money (if she is not feeling very creative) but she leaves you a little note. And when my daughter was able to write her own notes she too started leaving notes for the tooth fairy in anticipation of her response.
So now when the tooth fairy (AKA: Mum in PJs) is due to arrive, she cannot just write any note but has to write in response to my daughter’s letter, which is often well after 10pm to ensure that all is clear. This requires the skill of a bank robber, who steals into her room to obtain the treasured tooth and note… and sometimes little trinkets. Then move stealthily back to my bathroom, where I can switch on the light without disturbing my sleeping husband, to read the note. I then proceed to gather the foreign notepaper (so that my daughter will not see that it comes from my desk) and carefully write a letter from the tooth fairy….in handwriting that does not look like my own.
We have lost 7 teeth already so by now I have mastered this art. But how do you respond when her note goes like this:

Dear Tooth Fairy (BFF – Best friends Forever)
Will you be my best friend? Please tick here (little tick boxes inserted for YES or NO)
Please will you come for tea in the afternoon? Please tick here. YES or NO
Please will you make my wishes come true? Tick here. YES or NO.
Love from Mikara

The Tooth fairy’s response:

Dear Mikara
Thank you for another shiny tooth. Yes I am still your best friend. Sorry I can’t come to tea as I sleep in the daytime and collect teeth at night. And all your wishes should come true if you keep on being good, helping others, being kind and listening to your mum and dad. Spend your money wisely.
Keep Brushing 
Love
Your Tooth fairy

Or

Dear Tooth fairy (BFF)
Please can you give me some magic? Tick here. YES or NO.
Please wake me up, cause all I want is to see you. Plees…pleese….pleese…..pleese pleees
Love from Mikara

After much pondering and nudging my sleeping husband to help (to no avail), The Tooth fairy’s response:
Dear Mikara
I am glad to visit you again my dear friend. Thanks you for another shiny tooth. I would love to wake you up to meet you but if I do I would lose my magic I would never be able to be a tooth fairy again. Just close your eyes and imagine. I have rainbow coloured wings, sparkling brown hair, twinkly black eyes and an indigo coloured dress made from the finest silk. My hair sits on my shoulders with a chain of flowers as my crown. My magical silver shoes carry me everywhere and my silver wand helps me take your tooth away and leaves your reward.
Now you can draw a picture of me so you will always remember my rosy cheeks, my stumpy nose and my big smile.
Love from, Your Tooth fairy.
PS. Enjoy the book. I know you can read now. Make sure you share some stickers with your brother and teach him too.

As tired as I am when I have to write these notes, I must admit that I truly enjoy making this experience magical. So, the tooth fairy shall continue to live in my house for as long as I can keep the magic going.

You have kids – want an excellent place for breakfast or dinner. These guys have got service, playground, excellent mix right down to a T, oh did I mention their food is phenominal? Thanx guys! Been to the Cafe near Sevns in fourways and believe they have a branch in Kyalami to – so will def take a look at getting at there to.

Chop it – cut it – wash it – style it – cut the kids hair! Been to 2 of their outlets in the past 3 years, 1 at the life style centre and the other at the leaping frog centre. Their stores are busy especially on a Saturday morning, a hive of activity. I am amazed at how they run it as clock work as they do – it really comes down to 2 things – team work and give a shit attitude. From the reception lady to the floor sweeper and hair washer, they really do a great job and the reason why we were there – to have the boys hair cut – they old enough to sit by themselves now. In addition to great team work they had the patience of saints – have you even watched or taken a kid for a hair cut that is not interested? As a parent now who does not have a problem haircut with my boys I can watch in amusement at the pandemonium that can happen at the store. Oh and the parents that are flustered with 3 kids in tow and they are running 10 minutes late it is like the world is collapsing – or the stressed out parent that has to wait an extra 5 minutes as the parent before them was 10 minutes late – maybe they should be handing out the chill pills the staff are taking to the parents. Great place , great concept – thank you – you will see us again!

Ok with a 4 and a 2 year old you certainly can never assume anything, here are some examples – leave them in a bath of water to get some towels from the cupboard – never assume they will not splash the floor. More serious than that little one went to the dentist last week and had a mis night – we *assumed* just the dentist and he is getting used to the sealant they put on the teeth. Well a day later and still not great so we investigated  a tad more and noticed red spots in the back of the throat – well the poor guy has tonsolitis! So yup never gonna assume anything, get fooled by crying wolf every time as you never know when it could actually be something more serious than it looks out to be – never assume …