Archive for August, 2010

By Jayshree Sita, mom to 2 gorgeous, lively kids, Amishka 9yrs and Vishen  5yrs.  She traded the glamorous life of a chartered accountant to become a teacher. She’s also an aspiring writer and artist who is passionate about self-development and keeping her family happy.

I am a stay at home mom with many interests and passions, but my primary focus is to keep my family balanced, happy and healthy. I have a Smartphone which I use all the time, and find very helpful but also very distracting.  I love my calendar (since my husband’s and kid’s diaries are super complicated) and I love the camera – great for taking spontaneous pics  all the time. My kids seem to love the games on it and I can actually get a quick response from my busy corporate husband on the Smartphone messenger when I need it.  I can even update my Facebook whenever I like. So it is a very cool, fun and useful tool for me to have.

So at the beginning, I enjoyed the efficiency and diversity of applications that I had at my disposal 24/7. But then I realised that I was getting hooked into a world that always seemed in a hurry and always took my attention away from the present moment. I may have been watching my daughter’s netball match when an sms popped up. It really could wait, but the beep and the light caught my attention and before I knew it I was frantically typing my reply and missed a netball goal.

Between the e-mail and the sms’s, the actual phone and the Facebook alerts….I kept jumping between scenarios, which was draining my energy and certainly not allowing me to feel the reward of spending time focusing and concentrating on one goal/activity with a single mindedness that leads to excellence and peace and calm.

My kids complain when they want my attention and I’m absorbed in my Smartphone.

I told them it was a monster who had captured me in its long tentacles and they had to wrench me free…they laughed, enjoying the picture in their minds and imagining themselves real heroes who would save their Mummy.

So, are you a target of the Monster?

Read it and decide for yourself….that’s if you can put your Smartphone down for 5 minutes.

The Smartphone Monster

She’s smooth and she’s sleek
Robed in an elegant black dress
And jewelled in dazzling diamonds
She waits, she watches, she sings, she smiles

With hypnotic powers
That dazzle and delight
She draws you into her world
Be it daytime or night
She lures you, tempts you
catches you, grabs you
traps you & squeezes you,

You’re running in her world
your e-mails are climbing
Your messages ‘pinging’
Your calender’s buzzing
Your camera’s rolling
Your music’s pumping
Your facebook’s flashing
Your virtual world is rushing by
Alive and Exciting
But a little bit cold
And a little bit shallow

When she beckons your fingers get curled
Your back gets hunched
And like a lovesick fool
You’re unable to avert your eyes from her gaze

She plays the loyal servant
Who never leaves your side

Yet, bit by byte , she enslaves you
Till the ones you love, the ‘Real’ people
Need to ask her permission to access you

Sad, but true
The Smartphone Monster is out to get you
Can you Escape?

She clings to to your ear
Like a super sucky glue
Is that a new age earring?
Or are you tagged by the Smartphone Goddess
Who sits high up in the Universe
And controls little unsuspecting e-humans
With digital sounds and semi-words
Which have conquered and destroyed  the beauty of the English language
And the simple pleasure of long deep conversations

Of course she’s fun, she’s fabulous, she’s smart, she’s sexy
And you think she’s a super helpful efficient friend
But is she waiting at your fingertips,
Or are you waiting at hers?

by Tanya Kovarsky mother of baby Max, a magazine editor, and 8-time Comrades Marathon runner. Aside from her family and friends, she considers chai tea, her Blackberry, running shoes, baby jogger, Grey’s Anatomy, Glee and Twitter among the great loves of her life. Follow Tanya on Twitter @TanyaKovarsky

PUTUMAYO KIDS: AFRICAN DREAMLAND

I’ve long been a fan of the Putumayo World Music (particularly Africa and Reggae), and I wasn’t disappointed by African Dreamland, a collection of gentle and calming songs from ex Africa. The album kicks off with our very own Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s Nomathemba,and is followed by equally rhythmic and enchanting sounds from Democratic Republic of Congo, Cameroon, Guinea, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Equatorial Guinea, Mali and Cape Verde. The songs are beautiful and relaxing, and we found them a good part of our bedtime routine. I think the album’s appeal extends beyond children, and I found it as enjoyable with my little one, as I did relaxing after a dinner party with friends.  Visit Putumayo Kids to find out more.

Good to know: A portion of the proceeds of the sale of this CD will be donated to NextAid (a non-profit organisation that helps African children).

BABIES LOVE COLLECTION

It’s widely known that classical tunes have a huge impact on the cognitive development of fetuses and babies, so when it comes in the form of Michael Jackson, Abba, U2, Madonna and The Rolling Stones, then that’s music to my ears! (and my baby’s). The Babies Love Collection features the “best of” certain artists in classical form, and it’s brilliant for adults and babies. As if to test the soothing nature of the albums, my baby had a few midnight wake-ups, and this music definitely calmed him – and me – and seemed to lull him back to sleep a lot easier than usual. If you’re wondering how amazing I Can’t Get No Satisfaction, or Don’t Stand So Close To Me sound in classical form, then you must give Babies Love a listen. Beautiful stuff. Click here to find out more about Babies Love

BEAUTIFUL LULLABIES: BY ED JORDAN AND ALAN GLASS

Just as I was wondering how Beautiful Creatures could possibly add another album to their collection, along comes Beautiful Lullabies, which is a collection of their top lullabies from all their albums, and so worth having. Lovely lyrics (words included in the CD insert) and beautiful tunes make for a great album, and they’re catchy – I found myself singing some of the choruses days after! As with the other CDs, I loved the “localness” of this CD, and the fact that it’s “parent friendly” – no cheesy tunes or lyrics here. I look forward to singing along and winding down to this CD through the toddler years and beyond. Click here to find out more about Beautiful Creatures

by Janine Giannini, mom to two beautiful daughters Michela and Gabriella  and owner of Moments and Memories Photographic Studio. She’s passionate about newborn baby shoots

I remember when both my little girls were born I constantly had a camera out capturing all the moments I could even when they were fast asleep, those beautiful angelic little faces. Even now my camera isn’t far away. They just grow up and change so fast it is scary; I can never have too many photographs to look back on.

I have so many clients and friends asking me for tips on how to take better photographs. Although professional photos can be great, I know as a busy mom it’s not always possible or practical to organize these shoots, besides the spontaneous shots at home and on holiday are special moments you can’t afford to not have pictures of.

Here are some tips so that you can record some of your own beautiful newborn photos in the comfort of your own home.

When taking photographs of baby don’t be afraid to try different angles, outfits, or baby lying in different positions. To vary your images try a few of the following:  lay baby in a softly padded basket, on some cushions covered with a soft fluffy blanket, white always works well however soft pink for girls or blue for boys is a nice way to add a little colour. You can also photograph baby on their back and on their tummy. Don’t forget to take close up pics of your little ones hands and feet, they are only this tiny and wrinkled for a short while.

Sometimes I love to get my girls all dressed up and clean to take some pictures, much to their dismay, but I always keep a little camera in my bag…. often the perfect camera moments are when you least expect it.

Happy snapping!

provided by Matthew Ballenden, dad to Isabella & owner of the Fresh Earth Food Store, an organic health store and vegetarian restaurant with a great online store. Visit their website to find out more.

Salads are full of essential vitamins, iron, anti-oxidants, protein and good lipids, essential for maintaining a good nutritional constitution and alkalinity. Salads are a great way to get the required nutrition into your body that helps prevent hay fever. Hay fever sufferers are almost always very acidic and research has shown that by alkalizing your body with raw, healthy salads that have a great variety of ingredients, will help alleviate the symptoms.

How to make the roast butternut

1kg Butternut diced into 3cm block
15g Sage
10g Himalayan rock Salt
10g Olive oil

Method for making the butternut

Add all ingredients to baking tray mix up and bake.
Bake at 160 degrees for
Make sure the butternut is still firm but with nice colouring.

Salad ingredients

50g Mixed baby lettuce washed and dry
8g Rocket washed and dry
25g Mixed sprouts mustard seed sprout, sunflower sprout
10g Spring onion chopped
100g Roasted butternut
5g Toasted almond flakes
60g Avocado cubed same as the butternut
5g Alfalfa sprouts
60g Cucumber sliced and halved
60g Feta Cheese or Gorgonzola cheese
45ml Herb Dressing

Make sure the baby lettuce and the rocket is washed and dry Assemble lettuce in a pile add the mixed sprouts (mustard seed and sunflower seed sprouts)

Drizzle with herb dressing
Add the cucumber
Add the avocado
Add the butternut
Add the Cheese
Now garnish with the sprouts and flaked almonds

Browse through other healthy recipes on from Fresh Earth Food Store

by Sine Thieme, a writer and mother of four who is new to South Africa and busy chronicling her experiences on her blog, Joburg Expat.

It is 8:30 on a Saturday morning, and our family of six is ready to go on our first tour of Soweto. Rather than setting out on our own, we have chosen Themba Tours (R450 per adult for a half-day tour, kids half price), partly because of the convenience of a personal guide, but also, I admit, because “going into Soweto” has such a dangerous ring.

After a bit of a mix-up over our pickup location – as relative newcomers to South Africa we’re still saddled with a lot of Western impatience over the concept of “African time” – we are finally moving along the highway in a white minibus. Loyd, our guide, treats us to a quick history of Soweto, where he himself has lived all his life

Our first images of Soweto could not be further from what I expected (I’m not sure what I did expect – shootings? Road blocks? Burning cars?) This part, the “wealthy” section, looks very middle class – tidy houses, walled in, lush gardens. We drive by a high school, pretty playgrounds, a sprawling shopping center. All the more striking is the contrast when we arrive at our first stop, the Elias Motsoaledi squatter camp. Lean-to shacks crammed haphazardly together as far as the eye can see, patches of red, dusty dirt, no vegetation other than a few gray leaves winding around a fence post here and there. We begin walking, first to a preschool, then a typical family’s .home. What strikes me is how tidy everything appears. It has to be, with such little space. The nursery school houses stacked chairs, alphabet charts, and books, just like you’d expect. But you can tell that everything is scratched together by the grace of God, and we happily make use of the donation box. The home we visit is equally small (two beds are somehow enough for this family of eight), and only when I’m squashed against an ancient refrigerator that serves as cupboard do I realize there is no electricity in the entire camp. Stoves and lights are fueled with paraffin, and outside water taps and toilets have to be shared throughout the community.

Further stops include Regina Mundi Church, where many political meetings were held when they were officially banned during Apartheid, the Hector Pieterson Museum, and a quick sampling of Soweto cuisine at a restaurant selling kotas, also called bunny chow.

Our trip comes to an end with visits to Mandela House in Orlando West (where Nelson Mandela and his family lived from 1946 into the 1990s, now restored into a museum) and The Shack, a local shebeen or pub.

All in all, it was a very worthwhile trip. Our guide was excellent and offered a wealth of information and personal history. I hope that the kids will retain bits and pieces of it, if only to see what privileged lives they lead. Soweto is definitely not the cesspool of poverty and crime one might imagine, and instead offers a lot of history and a sense of community seldom found in our suburban estates. We felt completely safe at all times and I would have no reservations about going back on our own. For a more detailed version of this article, please visit Joburg Expat.