Archive for November, 2009

Recipes supplied by  Richard Rust of  Gourmet Gurus. Richard is a fabulous, 5 star trained, gourmet chef. He has cooked for, amongst others, British royalty, Woolworths and written for Taste magazine.

STAINED GLASS CHRISTMAS COOKIES  Makes 36

250g butter, softened     
2 tsp lemon rind
½ tsp almond essence
165g caster sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp water
335g cake flour
100g clear boiled sweets or lollies, crushed

Beat butter, rind, essence, sugar, egg and water until smooth.
Sift in the flour and knead until smooth.
Wrap in glad wrap and chill for 30minutes.
Pre-heat an oven to 170 degrees
On a floured surface roll dough to 4mm thick.
Using cookie cutters of your choice cut out shapes and
place on baking trays lined with paper.
Using a tiny cookie cutter or the handle of a wooden spoon make holes in the centre of each cookie.
Bake the cookies for 5minutes, remove from oven and fill centre with the crushed sweets, return to oven for further 5minutes, Cool on a tray.

To hang on a tree simply make another small hole near the edge of the cookie before baking, when cool thread ribbon for tying onto the tree. Alternatively wrap in organza and ribbon for gifts.

CHOCOLATE TRUFFLES Makes +/- 50

400ml cream
800g milk or dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
Cocoa and icing sugar for dusting

Heat the cream to almost boiling point and remove from heat.
Immediately add the chocolate and sir occasionally until smooth.
Place into a tray and cool until set.
With a spoon scoop walnut size pieces and
form balls by rolling between your palms (the children will love this).
Roll each ball in either the cocoa or icing sugar, chill for 30minutes.
These make great gifts for family and friends in pretty little boxes or
are great for treats.

CHRISTMAS ICE CREAM

12 mince pies
2litres good quality Vanilla ice cream

Fill a clean clear food plastic bag with the mince pies and get the kids to smash them into little pieces.
In a large bowl place the ice cream and mix in the smashed minced pies.
Either place the mix back into the ice cream tub and freeze until served or to create individual puddings place in ramekins lined with glad wrap. (To serve the mini puddings use the glad wrap to take out the pudding)

For more information contact Richard on 074 1722312

by Sally Cameron, midwife, mother of 2 and co-owner of earthbabies . I am passionate, creative, trying to be Green unschooling single mom. It’s a journey

If there is one holiday that is all about being a kid it is Christmas.  Father Christmas, magic sledge, reindeer, tinsel, Christmas carols, presents under the tree, lots of great food, what is not to love? One of the greatest gifts we can give our kids in this busy season and indeed our hectic lives, is our time. Kids love to make Christmas decorations and things for around the house. There are some lovely Christmas crafts that not only allow you to spend precious time with your kids but also how to make use of things that you find around the house which teaches them about recycling and reusing as well.

We made some angels for our table made from old toilet roll inners. We covered them with crepe paper, but you could use newspaper that you have coloured in or printed, old scrap paper, cardboard for the wings and face. Use wool for the hair. My kids loved making these.

 We then made candle holders from old glass bottles, I sprayed them and then the put out stickers, glitter and paint for the kids to decorate their bottles.

There were some really lovely crafts using old Christmas cards but I paper recycled last years ones so this time I will hang onto a few and make some of these ideas  next year but if you are interested here’s some ideas about using recycled Christmas ornaments http://www.allfreecrafts.com/christmas/card-ornaments.shtml

How to make a Christmas card basket from recycled Christmas cards.  http://www.allfreecrafts.com/christmas/card-basket.shtml

By Angel Swemmer, a  mom to a teenage-almost-adult ADHDer and what I write is purely my opinion on things I feel strongly about, based on my experience as an ADHDer parent. Author of the blog Angelsmind

 Are you dreading the holidays?

Does the thought of spending time with friends and family scare the bejeebers out of you?

Well, if your ADHDer is anything like mine, then he (or she) is a handful at the best of times and I don’t blame you.

 Like me, you probably also have- or have had- a dilemma with friends and family battling to deal with your ADHDer, or struggling to understand that ADHD is a disability.  And if you medicate your ADHDer then you’ve probably also had flak for doing so. Maybe your parents or family members “…don’t believe in ADHD…” and don’t agree with how you are treating the condition. Perhaps you even have close family and friends whom you haven’t even told about your child’s ADHD- for whatever reason…

The holidays make all this a lot more difficult than usual.

As it is, a simple Sunday lunch with the family can be a nightmare for ADHDers and their parents. In the holidays- even if you do not actually go away- you will most likely be spending a lot of time with close friends and family over the silly-season, so you can multiply the nightmare comparison by a factor of 10, at least.

 You’d think an ADHDer would thrive in this season of noise and colour and excitement, but what it really does is make them needier when it comes to their demand for immediate gratification- and it makes them come across as even more hyper and disruptive than usual. ADHDers battle socially. They don’t read social cues and they cannot read body language. The bright lights, colours, crowds and the pressure to meet holiday deadlines and interact socially, quickly sends an ADHDer’s brain into overload. And this is when they become difficult to handle even for people who love and understand him.

 One of the first things that fall by the wayside when Christmas holidays start is the daily routine. You sleep late, eat later, eat “junk”, shop, gallivant, visit friends and family, and in some families you no longer medicate* your ADHDer.

 ADHDers desperately need their routine and structure. When they can predict their day, and they know exactly what’s going to happen and when, they are a lot more relaxed- they do best when expectations are clear and obvious. Try to stick to some kind of routine, for the whole family’s sake! You could change your routine to suit a more relaxed holiday mode but do try and keep a structure that your ADHDer can see and anticipate. And perhaps start preparing your ADHDer for a slightly different set of expectations for when the holidays start and he’s no longer getting up for school.

 Stick up a visible calendar to countdown things like the start of the holiday, the day you leave for granny’s house, Christmas day, New Years’ Eve and the day you leave to come home again- and take it with you on holiday!

Whatever else you do- try and do your best to stick to your plans. And as tempting as it is, try not to say yes to everything!

Have a look at previous holidays and try to avoid situations that have led to meltdowns before. It may mean avoiding certain situations or even ignoring some traditions- but you can make it work for your family. Make new traditions! Allow yourself to make decisions that others may not understand for the sake of having a holiday that’s memorable for the right reasons.

 Just like when you’re preparing your ADHDer for the start of a new term or school year, involve him in planning the holiday. Imagine if you yourself were told that you’d be leaving on a 2 week holiday in the morning- the night before you left! You’d be more than a little fed up at not knowing about it wouldn’t you? Well, an ADHDer brain takes a little longer to process information like this, and even if you’ve told him several times you’re going away- don’t stop doing so until you can be sure he has grasped it. Talk about it every night at dinner and include your ADHDer in the packing process so that he retains the information.

And all through the holidays try to make sure that your ADHDer gets enough sleep and enough water!

 You may also want to prepare yourself for some criticism or even disapproval from friends or family- especially the people you ONLY see at Christmas time.

Keep in mind that these people do not know your ADHDer as well as you do, and the first time they see him, he’ll be in his element! He’ll be polite and amiable and even you’ll be surprised by how well he’s doing… the next time he sees these people they’ll be boring and he’ll be back to his “normal” self very quickly. Everyone will wonder why he’s such a handful today when yesterday he was “fine”!

And if people know your ADHDer is medicated, then they will most likely tell you that they don’t understand why he’s medicated since they can’t see a problem with him. You may want to gently remind them that they don’t “see” any problem BECAUSE he’s medicated!

At some point someone will ask how your ADHDer is doing at school, or when he’s going to start “big school”, and we all know school is a touchy subject. If you do not share as much about your ADHDer’s life with your family as I do- and believe me I know it takes a long time to reach this point- then you might want to prepare some “answers” for these questions, and perhaps even rehearse some subject-change-techniques!

 The most important thing is that you and your ADHDer have a holiday filled with happy memories, and with enough preparation it CAN happen.

You may want to read these articles too for more tips and advice:

Surviving ADHD During the Christmas Holiday,

HOLIDAY HINTS

How to Get Through A Hectic Season

Christmas Craziness: Not Just for ADHD Kids

Reconnecting with Family and Friends

ADHD Holiday Help: House Rules for Children

Avoid Holiday Havoc: Help for ADHD Children

Happy Holidays — Really!

*this is not something I agree with, but that’s another post

 Disclaimer: I am not a professional anything 

By Nomathemba Nkomo , is mother to 2 well behaved,beautiful children.She is passionate about raising loving,happy,intelligent and well behaved children in our country. She is also the principal of Kiddies Cave Pre- School in Kew.

 At Kiddies Cave Pre-school for toddlers and kids up to the age 6 yrs, we pride ourselves on giving  children an excellent foundation for private and public schools. All our teachers and caregivers are experienced and qualified. We also offer activities  such as  ballet, karate and computer lessons.

We currently have vacancies for 2 qualified nursery school teachers who can work 3 hours daily, to start in the new year.

 The love of kids plus a good command of English are essential requirements.

Applicants must please supply us with your name, email address, contact numbers – landline and cell phone and we will be in touch.

By Alet  Viljoen, Single mom to the nearly 4 yr old Logan and author of  Lettuce and Lu in the house of many colours.

Christmas was never really intended to be about Santa and the presents he will be sliding down the chimney the night before.  Yet, considering that we are all parents and in dire need of five whine-free minutes, I think the coming of the festive season goes hand in hand with what we could call motivation.

 I was brought up believing the few weeks before Christmas, one needed to be extra careful of the tantrums you plan on throwing, the state of your bedroom and how high you jump when mom asks you to do something.  Likewise, my child is starting to become acquainted with these concepts. 

 So I communicate with Santa Claus on the telephone every other night – I either inform him of what a good little boy Logan is, or I tell him all the naughty things Logan has done. 

 A friend of mine has taken things one step further which I think will work for children a little  older.  She is benefitting from a harmless little bug currently residing in most of our homes, called the Christmas Beetle.  These little beetles are spies for Santa and the helpers of parents.  They are in our homes to see what kids are up to while their mommies and daddies are busy.  And they report directly to Santa Claus.

Does Santa help you motivate your kids to stop whining in the run up to Xmas?  What do you do?

by Sally Cameron, midwife, mother of 2 and co-owner of earthbabies . I am passionate, creative, trying to be Green unschooling single mom. It’s a journey

 I became a single mom at the beginning of the year when I left my husband after a failed, destructive marriage. Raising 2 small kids alone is a huge challenge and can really leave you feeling more than a little worn out.  My ex husband works on the oil rigs and so would be away for weeks at a time. I got used to being and doing everything myself but  I would still defer things to him like building the flat pack furniture, mowing the lawn, fixing anything that broke, hanging pictures, the car. These were all deemed his area of responsibility

When I left and it was just the kids and I, the shock of having to look after them alone 24/7 was overwhelming. Before I was a stay at home mom, now all of a sudden I was responsible for making money for the kids and managing stuff I had never done before.  I was  immobilized with fear but little by little I am expanding my repertoire.

It has been a long  emotional journey dealing with all the feelings around a broken marriage, helping the kids manage their feelings and then the very very long hours I work at night when the kids are asleep so I can grow my little on line business  Earth Babies.  All this has left me rather exhausted ,irritable and drained

 I had never been away from my kids for more than a night in 5 years. I desperately needed not to be a mom for a little while and toyed with the idea of going to Cape Town for a long weekend. My business partner and dear true friend Barbara convinced me to go for a bit longer. So, on 3rd November I left my kids with Barbara and went to Cape Town for a week. I am sure that there are those that will judge me for leaving them to have fun but I feel like a much better mom after having the break. I know that having the break has made me a much better mom. I had time to restore myself a little , have more patience with them and can really enjoy them  now rather than being irritable a lot of the time. I blogged about my  holiday and looking at that picture always make me smile. I was happy to deep inside me there, it restored me.

 I think we all need a break at times, when last did you have one?

by Fiona Ingram, a  South African writer who loves books, travel, animals, antiques, and adventures of all kinds! Read Fiona’s author site and find out about her recently published children’s adventure novel.

I don’t remember actually learning to read; it’s as if I always did. Although we grew up poor (five children to feed, clothe, and educate), my parents always had books in the house. And then of course, there were the books we inherited from my grandparents. My very old copy of The Wind in the Willows, with those simple yet beautiful illustrations, is still on my bookshelf. Ratty and Mole were my heroes (and still are!). Other old friends are The Secret Garden, with exquisite color plates, The Water Babies, Enid Blyton’s Faraway Tree series, my collection of the Lucy Fitch Perkins’ twin series, with her poignant stories of children of all eras and places around the world. I particularly loved Anne of Avonlea, The Little Princess and many others.

The list of children’s classics is endless and not so long ago I read them all over again. I ‘inherited’  a  foster child from a disadvantaged background. This little girl came to me at age eleven, practically illiterate, scoring only 19% for English at school. Opening the doors into the wonderful world of books seemed insurmountable because she simply did not understand the connection between the written and spoken word. What to do? Begin at the beginning seemed a good idea.

I started off with my old favourites and Mabel loved them. Suddenly, the words were not frightening because she was hearing about places and people she’d never imagined. She’d lean over my shoulder, breathing down my neck as I read, my finger tracing the words as I sounded them out. The pages began to surrender the magical words, and she found them enchanting! Fired with success, we moved onto the rest of the library, slowly devouring my children’s classic book collection in very tiny bite-sized pieces. I was still doing most of the reading.

One day, Mabel decided she’d help out with the books, and began reading to me. It was still incredibly slow but I began to see the glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. We got movies of books, watched them, and then read the books, just in case the moviemakers had left out some important bits. We expanded our repertoire book by book. I found other ways to sneak words into her day, not just when we were doing ‘serious’ reading. She read recipes with me when we baked; she read the instructions on the packaging to me while we prepared dinner; she read advertisements to me when we shopped. Suddenly words were a constant part of her life.

Mabel also began to show her imaginative side at school. Her poems and creative writing pieces began to change, reflecting more color, bigger words, more complex themes and emotions. What a breakthrough! The final moment of success came when just recently she turned to my mother and said, “Gran, will you buy me a book?”

My mother nearly fell off her chair and replied, “You can have as many as you like, darling.”

Mabel grinned. “Oh, then can you buy me all the Twilight books please?” Thank you Stephenie Meyer for being the first author Mabel ‘owns.’ (Apparently vampires rock.)

Her latest ‘own’ books? Inkheart, and The Golden Compass.

Her latest marks for English? A magnificent 75%.

“I can do much better,” she said, frowning. “I’m going to have to improve on this if I want to be a writer.”

I have now adopted Mabel, not having my own children, and I can say the greatest compliment is that she has decided to become a journalist or a novelist (just like me).

Recently I called her and, hearing her voice coming from her bedroom, asked, “What are you doing?”

Reply: “I’m reading!”

Music to any parent’s ears!

by Merle Dieterich, mother of Marvin and Lerato,  loves books,  yoga,  playing a special board game ( The Settlers of Catan) and  is passionate about her business,   Jozikids.co.za

I have always  surrounded my kids with books and read to them as much as possible. Most of these books I find  in libraries, at the homes of friends,  at bookstores,  school fetes, you name it,  wherever they can be found.  When relatives ask me what they can buy my kids as gifts,  my first choice is always books.

Today it gives me huge pleasure  to watch them escape into this world of the imagination, of stories.  As I write this my son is lying in bed starting the third book in a fantastic series for older kids ( from11yrs) by Rick Riordan about a character called Percy Jackson set against the background of Greek Mythology. He is captivated, can’t stop and could easily read for hours. Luckily its Saturday,  so the chances are good.

I want to share some of our best reads with you and invite you to do the same.  Lets create a wonderful list , one we can all use to instill a love of reading in our children.

The books  Marvin could not put down:

From  10yrs:
-  The Lion boy trilogy by Zizou Corder ( incredible, for parents too)
-  Eva Ibbotson’s books, especially The Dragonfly Pool.
- Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan

6-9yrs
-The Diary of Wimpy Kids series
- Roald Dahl kids stories

2-5yrs
- So Much! by Trish Cooke and Helen Oxenbury  ( one of my all time favourites – written like a rap song/poem)
- Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. ( all his books are great)
- Ezra Jack Keats :  A letter to Amy or Whistle for Willie

I could go on and on but maybe this is enough to start with. I will add to this list as I  remember.  Please help us grow it.

by Kojo Baffoe a man, a father, a son, a brother, a husband, a friend, a poet, a writer on a quest to make sense of this reality, with words. Author of Evolutionary.

I love reading. I don’t get to do it as much, but I still love the feel of a book. Every now and then I still find books that, once picked up, cannot be put down. Books that have you sitting, during the witching hour, repeating the mantra, “one more chapter and then I sleep, one more chapter and then I sleep.”

This probably comes from living in a home where the garage was converted into a study just to house my father’s books, covering a myriad of subjects. I would spend hours in there, looking for something to read. I went through phases, hanging out in the school library reading everything from Agatha Christie to Louis L’amour.

While I have always bought books, it is only in the last couple of years that I have been able to start to build a decent library. So, you can imagine my hope when it comes to Kweku, my son. I started doing the alphabet with him at two weeks and still do nearly every night. Same thing with counting, which he can comfortably do up to 10 and is working on 11 to 20.

I also started reading to him very early. The usual stories for his age group are short and, to be honest, boring (I have to read them) so I very quickly picked up a copy of bedtime stories that cover stories from different cultures across the world. I have also started looking for the fairytales that I grew up on and have since discovered how scary they are. There always seems to be someone who died and tragedy. For Cinderella to have a step-mother, her real mother had to die.

“London Bridge is falling down” is about destruction, Jack loses his head falling down a hill, Hansel & Gretel nearly become cuisine for a witch and the snoring old man bumps his head on the edge of the bed and can’t get up in the morning. Some of these have as much destruction as an action movie. I was becoming paralysed, not quite sure what I can read to my son beyond the cute little books with lots of pictures.

So, I decided to just read. He also seems to love books and will spend a good 10 to 20 minutes flipping through a magazine or newspaper so now we are going through Kahlil Gibran’s The Alchemist at bedtime, for the second time. Next up, it is Anansi The Spider, fables from Ghana. I also read him poetry sometimes and stories of Winnie The Pooh (a favourite for all of us). What do you read your children?

By Laura-kim single mom, recently divorced with 2 kids and the author of the blog Harrased mom.

We had a death in my family recently.

The relative that died, was part of a section of my family that have a unique culture, one they practice and believe strongly in. At the funeral the casket is open and everyone can view the body of the deceased.

As a result the funeral did pose a slight problem for me. I have never been to a funeral. I avoid them like the plague. My kids have obviously also never been. But the last thing I wanted to do was possibly offend my family.

Fortunately they agreed that since it was an open casket funeral it would not be a good place for the children. I will be honest I breathed a sigh of relief. Granted, no one is really ready for a funeral.

It does pose a question though – do you take your child to a funeral? If you do from what age? What do you tell them?

My kids are currently 5 and 7 – they know what death is but neither of them seems to really understand it. Cameron thinks it would be cool to die – so he clearly has no idea yet that it is permanent.

Also how do you deal with cultural traditions like an open casket? I wouldn’t cope with it so would my child? Should I expect them too? It does make it a little easier to deal with when the person isn’t close family but it is still something that makes you think.

What would you do?