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.

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 …

Ever read Noddy? Well I believe that Google stole their name from a Noddy story. I wonder in the legal teams of Noddy and Enid Blyton have figured it out. Surely it is a massive infringement of a trademark, I mean everyone that reads noddy knows googleberry juice, is it a mere over sight or maybe an under sight or is it that the founders of google are great Noddy fans…imagine explaining that to your kids one day – yes Google Berry juice and Google.com are friends they have some sort of a kingship  pact between them.

You know this really is a big word: Reflection – yes this could mean the mirror and what you see in real life however I certainly wanted to touch on mindful reflection. You see I have always been taught from a young age that life is about memories and I have conformed, agreed and used this as motivation on many times in the last 20 odd years. It was however taken to a new level in church on sunday as reflection was touched on my the minister. You see reflection is a looking back on memories and accomplishment and reflecting on these times can often be more fulfilling and enjoyable than the actual action itself – reflection – it can be very rewarding! So why is this posted here on a parents blog – well simple you are the captain of your child future childhood reflections! You are mostly in charge of your child’s memories that are created, nurtured, experienced in their child hood. Reflect back on yours – take the responsibility and set the goal to make your child’s future reflections- AWESOME!

Growing up with a 4 year old – it is amazing how different two kids can be – really poles apart however from the same cloth. Watching a 4 and a 2 year old get along while on holiday, to really start conversing and getting along is such a pleasure to see. In addition to this it is really interesting – even when the ref needs to jump in and separate the two as they tend to become wrestlers at some time during their play sessions. I have shared before on our little secret campaign, well this holiday it has evolved and sure I would love to take the credit for it however it was started by my 4 year old. It go like this – * I farted on your leg* – yes simple humor do not read to much into it it is just playfulness and do realize that it is not ideal. This evolved into “hey I need a fart bring me your leg!* needless to say this has not gone down as receptive as the secret which they want to hear at times especially Kylie. The bring me your leg generally makes them run in the opposite direction with laughs and giggles….

Personal think that religion is  personal journey for each and every individual to be take a their own time or pace or not at all. For kids though some instruction may be necessary, especially in the understanding and comprehension of the work and faith as a whole. To share a story with you we lost our dog to a kidney failure, poor little scotty.

To explain to our 4 and 2 year what happened we explained that *holly* (dog) was sick and was going to live at the vet and not come home. Well a week later we got a puppy called Sandy, now I left one afternoon to take her to the vet the kids went berserk as they were afraid she was not going to come home like holly, so I took them with to make sure. While we were there Skye – 4 years old – pipes up ad says hey dad while we here can we visit holly. Well um no – so not sure waht to say I thought the best straight forward approach would be the blatant truth, I said no she is dead. Oh my what a backlash at the vet, we took a few hours after that to explain that Holly had gone to heaven and that she was ok….

That night when it was time to prey, Skye started his prayer with:

“dear Jesus and Holly….”

Wow the joy of xmas would never be the same without experiencing it with kids, your own or others. It is such a special time of year, the reason for xmas is to remember the birth of our lord Jesus Christ and together with this the celebration of exchanging gifts. The kids had an absolute ball running around to past 9 pm last nite – it does now ever not make them sleep later in the morning – pity. The one comment I really did ant to make is noting that it is clear that some of the toy producers are certainly parents. The toys come in their own plastic box, ok it may not sound like much however it really is fantastic as it keeps all the toys together. There were dozens of various presents that I noticed yesterday that were like this. The little tool set, the art set and the tent. Thanx guys!  There is nothing more *messy* and disorganized than receiving a 50 piece toy or the likes that battles to pack away in anything once the box is thrown away.