parenting

I recently copied a recipe for Smartie cookies and made them for the children. I can’t remember which recipe book it was from. When I made the cookies my children loved them. After making them I realized that you can take any choc chip cookie recipe and use Smarties instead of choc chips. The recipe calls for 200g sugar-coated chocolate …

My Mother did many little things which made my childhood magical, creating so many special memories. I have been remiss in following through and making this a tradition. She would bake Gingerbread Men, no fancy cutter back then which led to the legs, arms and head detaching on a whim, I don’t remember this bothering me. The Eyes and buttons …

Fjord turns 6 this year, he is meant to start Gr 1 in the year that he turns 7.  He started Gr 1 this week.  We gave a lot of thought to making this decision, time will tell if it was the correct one.  Our feeling is that when children are younger they are so open to learning and so …

Butterfly world in the Paarl area of the Western Cape is a lovely outing for parents with Children.  This week we made our 2nd visit to Butterfly world and loved it again.  We met up with Joanne (Fjord’s Godmother) and spent a few hours enjoying the place.  The children were enchanted with the butterflies, Fjord was desperately hoping that one …

If there is somewhere to go for tea and cake on a Saturday afternoon in Paarl we didn’t find it.  The town is so beautiful, if I were to live in the Western Cape it would be my top choice from the areas which we have seen, but on a Saturday afternoon it was impossible to find a tea garden …

Generally I have a clear conscience.  I gave up work and financial independence to be a stay at home Mum, my time is generally spent being a constructive parent and wife.  Deon Meyer messes up this picture of selfless domesticity.  This week reading ‘The Heart of the Hunter” (my 3rd Deon Meyer), the children were plonked in front of the …

Here in South Africa Halloween is not a tradition but it seemed like a good excuse to have fun with the kids.  Yesterday Fjord was so excited when Cliff carved a Jack O Lantern!  When he got home from school today I gave him a pack of streamers and he spent over an hour decorating the garden with them.  Cliff …

We discovered Martin Waddell at the library when Fjord was 2 the first book being ‘Tom Rabbit’.  I always choose books quite randomly but it was the Martin Waddell books which he asked for over and over.  I bought 2 packs of 10 Walker books at different times and despite the illustrators being different it was the Martin Waddell books …

Over the weekend we visited Pretoria Zoo.  Whilst seeing animals in captivity is sad, I believe that zoos have an important role in education and creating an environment where compassion and knowledge are nurtured. For the 1st time we hired a toddler buggy which was easier than carrying children on the other hand it meant that Fjord was more interested …

We hung onto our little retro box TV for longer than most but this week we upgraded.  We went from one extreme to the other, now the proud owners of a 42″ LG 3D TV. The TV also has a cool function which converts 2D viewing to 3D, great novelty in that. I had read a few articles which mentioned …