It must be said that when you have a baby – wetwipes are a lifesaver – they are great easy to use cost effective bum cleaning tool. When you have a pongy situation  or a mess to clean wetwipes / bumwipes are really handy to get around. What I really wanted to share with you is once you have dropped the day time nappy and your child is almost potty trained do not throw the wetwipes away! Keep them on your shopping list as they are really handy! They may dry out from lack of use however this can easily be remedied with a dip in water. See when you have 3 and a 5 year old they do have accidents or a real splutter that is a nigthmare to get clean with toilet paper. Wetwipes to the rescue! Make them wetter under the tap and their cleaning powers increase!

So when stocking up, stock up on wet wipes you will use them for years! Do not worry about them drying out – keep them on your shopping list!

Thank you very very much for wetwipes!

Well on the surface lets face it who are we to judge – this is true however on certain instance in being parents just don’t. Reason being is that often there can be a more to the story than meets the eye. This time what I am specifically referring to is do not judge the parents by how their kids are dressed.  You see my 4 year old has a pair of batman slips that are a few seasons past their sell by date, he loves wearing them and at times it is not worth the battle of wills at 6 in the morning so he has warn them to school a few times. Added to this is his crazy and experimental dress sense where weird and wonderful colors are thrown together – not to mention his strange and interesting use of how many way he can find to wear a tshirt.  Yup if you have ever take your child to school in their pajamas then you know exactly where I am coming from. If your kids have never been to school in the pajamas then well done! I am however sure that you time will come.

mmm something like a rolly polly type effect – you see there is a fine line between over estimate on what your child is really possible of doing and in the same vain do not under estimate what they are capable of. Yea sure I am sure many of us have heard the missing kids etc as the parents let a 6 year old walk to the shops alone while they were having a dop with mates. No this is not waht I mean at all, what I am referring to is general understanding of your child and their own abilities. If you have the kids on a rein let them loose and you will be amazed at the responsiveness of your child and will fast learn what they are capable of doing or not doing. If your kids are let wild and loose then please pay attention – and be responsible at it. What I am referring to is allowing your child to do things, naturally with your help and supervision, something like making coffee for mommy or daddy – helping bake cookies or muffins or maybe something like putting on a DVD. Kids are amazing – let them amaze you : )

Warning do not try this at home with small kids! – you may be amazed by the mess or the results:

During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

“Well,” said the Director, “we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub.”

“Oh, I understand,” said the visitor. “A normal person would use the bucket because it’s bigger than the spoon or the teacup.”

“No.” said the Director, “A normal person would pull the plug.

Do you want a bed near the window?”

You know beauty is in the eye of the beholder – in the same note so is annoyance , maybe in the ear of the beholder. See with growing kids you realize the effect tiredness and exhaustion can effect the body. Kids go into effect easily when they are tired, they are miserable and a challenge or should I say more of a challenge to deal with than normal. The question this raises in any parent is what do you find more challenging to deal with?

A winning 2 year old that seems to drone and mumble demands are their normal methods of communication

Your constant requests to do something – the annoyance of having to repeat yourself and hear yourself sound like a nagging “fishwife”.

No wait maybe it is the crying and the tantrums that become common occurrence when tiredness or frustration sets in

I could really elaborate however I feel these are my top 3 and you know I am torn between which one I find more challenging.

“Mommy,” three year old M says, then touches my breasts lightly. “Why you got this?”
I stare down at him, speechless.
He looks down at his own chest. “Where’s my big ones?”
I vary between starting to laugh and starting to panic. What on earth am I going to say?
Then he sees his shirt. “Look. My shirt’s dirty.”
I hold my breath, but this is the end of the conversation. He spins away and demands ‘Monster Mike’.
Saved once again by the natural ADD of a three year old. Thank goodness.

But it gets me thinking. I’ve never thought about what kind of answers I could give to these kinds of questions.

Of course, with hindsight, the answers are always easy. But asked out of the blue, on a coincidentally blue-skied South African afternoon, well… The mind boggles.

At least, mine does.

There are also other challenges like:
“Mommy, where’s your willy?”
“Did you poo, mommy?” (always asked in a crowded area at Full volume, asked whether I left the table to get food / sauce or whatever)
“Here, mommy, eat it. Eat it, it’s nice!” (after digging something green out of his nose)
“Yum, yum!” (after EATING said green monstrosity)
“I got a willy!” (again, always in a crowded area at Full volume… and with heaps of pride! Often followed by “na-nana-nah-na!”)
“He’s brown, mommy. I not brown.” (very true, but hard when thinking people might think your poor child racist when he’s just learning his colours…)

Do your kids leave you speechless?

I am almost 32 weeks pregnant and I’ve noticed the general pregnant conversation while talking to one of our producers the other day. It goes something like this:

Pregnant Fairy 1: When are you due?

Pregnant Fairy 2: Mid January. And you?

Pregnant Fairy 1: End of February.  Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?

Pregnant Fairy 2: It’s a boy….again. What are you having?

Pregnancy Fairy 1: A girl

Pregnant pause – excuse the pun

Pregnant Fairy 2: Do you have any names yet?

Pregnant Fairy 1: Yes we’re thinking either Lola or Peaches

Another pregnant pause while Pregnant Fairy 2 thinks of a diplomatic response.

Pregnant Fairy 2: Oh! *thinks, “Good grief, my dog’s name is Lola”.*

Pregnant Fairy 1:  Do you have any names yet?

Pregnant Fairy 2: No, but we are working on it. *thinks ”and we are seriously considering NORMAL names”*

Pregnant Fairy 1: Are you going for normal birth or caesarean?

Pregnant Fairy 2: Caesarean

Pregnant Fairy 1: I’m going for a normal birth..actually natural, no drugs!

Conversation runs dry.

The end.

Boys will be boys and sometimes the father influence can assist with teaching and encouraging the little guys to do some silly funny boyish things. You know the one “pull my finger” yea and then you let one rip….well dad has taught a new one – I have a secret – I am sure it has been around for yonks, well it is *new* in our family.  Goes something like this: “I have a secret who wants to hear it” – you see the little guy – if he is in the right humor- run over to you and say me me me! Then you lean over and burp in his ear, it is the funniest thing! Now a 2 year old has not learnt to burp on demand yet nor control a burp so when the monkey see monkey do act slips in it is hilarious watching a 2 year trying to burp in your ear and the funniest sounds that come out their mouths….

Having an almost 2 year old toddler running around is probably one of the most amazing things in life. So often, we underestimate their ability of understanding and their memory.

About 2 weeks ago, my toddler pulled a mug of hot coffee off the counter with braai tongs and he got scalded with the coffee. Immediately I put his feet, which got splattered most, under the cold water in the basin in the nearest bathroom and said to him the coffee was “shoo-shoo” and that he must be careful. (Well, it was really my fault that he pulled the coffee down..BAD mommy!) This morning after his morning outside play before school, I quickly rinsed off his feet under the running water in the same bathroom. I was amazed when he said to me “coffee, shoo-shoo”. Seriously?? I thought he would have forgotten about the incident by the very next day.
It amazes me what sticks to their little minds when they hear something or have experienced something just once.

So I guess growing up is a “sticky business” after all.

Ok you may have heard a similiar story like this with different variables, I would like to share it for the benefit of those that have not heard it before:

A woman came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find her 5-year old son waiting for her at the door.

SON: ‘Mummy, may I ask you a question?’

MUM: ‘Yeah sure, what it is?’ replied the woman.

SON: ‘Mummy, how much do you make an hour?’

MUM: ‘That’s none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?’ the woman said angrily.

SON: ‘I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?’

MUM: ‘If you must know, I make  R 50 an hour.’

SON: ‘Oh,’ the little boy replied, with his head down.

SON: ‘Mummy, may I please borrow R25?’

The mother was furious, ‘If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don’t work hard everyday for such childish frivolities.’

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door..

The woman sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy’s questions. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the woman had calmed down , and started to think:

Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that R25.00 and she really didn’t ask for money very often The woman went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.

‘Are you asleep, son?’ She asked.

‘No Mummy, I’m awake,’ replied the boy.

‘I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard o n you earlier’ said the woman. ‘It’s been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here’s the R25 you asked for.’

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. ‘Oh, thank you Mummy!’ he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.

The woman saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his mother.

‘Why do you want more money if you already have some?’ the mother grumbled.

‘Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,’ the little boy replied.

‘Mummy, I have R50 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.’

The mother was crushed. She put his arms around her little son, and she begged for his forgiveness.

It’s just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that R50 worth of your time with someone you love.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.