Archive for January, 2011

By Sholain Govender-Bateman , Pretoria based journalism lecturer who worked at The Star, Pretoria and other news publications. She also edited MyWeek magazine and loveLife magazine. She is mum to two gorgeous girls, Isobel and Aishwari, and wife to Barry.

Isobel will be turning 3 in May. She’s speaking in full sentences, fully potty trained, can hold a pencil and almost paint within the lines of a picture. She can kick a ball, count to ten bar a few missing numbers when she is in a hurry to get to ten, do a forward roll and is a social butterfly. Yet, I’m still in two minds about sending her to pre-school.

My mum says I’m being overprotective, even paranoid, and whilst she may be right, I also believe that my fears are valid. Like most parents, I will do anything to keep my child from harm and ensure that she is happy – is that so wrong?

I’m afraid of Isobel picking up bad habits from other toddlers(is she still a toddler?), being bullied, getting bullied or getting abused in some way. I don’t want her to feel like we’re taking her away from her second mum, her nanny Kate who also looks after my younger daughter, Aishwari(3 months old). What if she is influenced by other adults in a way that I don’t like? Maybe I’m even jealous that other people would then be included in the task of raising my child? What if she feels rejected and regresses with her speech and potty training or becomes introverted?

There are pros, of course – she will make new friends and pick up new skills and words – but she is already exposed to different skills and words everyday through constructive and free play. She has a play gym, trampoline and soccer nets and balls so that she develops her motor skills. And she sings nursery rhymes with actions and dances to almost any music.

So do I send her to school or not? What do you think?

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.

Having moved here from America in March of 2010, the one thing I didn’t expect to find in South Africa was baseball. Our boys, ages 12 and 14, had been avid baseball players in the U.S. but we were resigned to the fact that it would have to be cricket (cricket!) from now on (let me just say that we are still struggling to understand why it is necessary to have matches last 5 days).

However, I was all the more surprised to find that there is a growing baseball movement in South Africa, and not just as a pastime but also a model of social change. One such example is the Alexandra Baseball Association.

Late last year, I met Lucky, the founder of Alexandra Baseball. He told me all about his league of about 180 kids, ages 7-18. They have passion and work hard. Going to practice every day after school keeps them out of trouble and stirs dreams in some to perhaps one day make it to the American Major Leagues. Lucky – who himself grew to love baseball as a kid when his mother worked in the household of Japanese expats – has the vision of growing and perhaps exporting the league he built into new neighborhoods, such as Soweto. But the challenges are daunting. Their home field has no fence or backstop, no bases and no pitcher’s mound, which forces the team to travel across the Gauteng Baseball Federation all season. Coming up with transport is a problem, as is the lack of mitts and bats. Despite all this, they have had success against larger and better-funded clubs. I got to visit the field they practice on in the heart of Alexandra, and I was able to watch and greet some of his players.

Impressed by what I heard and saw, I vowed to help in whichever way I could. I donated what little equipment our boys had outgrown over the years, as well as an unused laptop computer to help the league with their communications. But what is really needed is much more equipment. With baseball still relatively unknown here in South Africa, it’s hard to find even new gear, let alone used. Luckily, Pitch in for Baseball, a non-profit organization in the USA, has agreed to donate a 250-kg pallet of helmets, gloves, bats, balls, and uniforms. This is wonderful news, except that there is a shipping cost of about R8000 which they cannot cover. We are now reaching out in any way we can to raise that money.

If you work in a company that might consider a sponsorship (for instance in return for a placement of their logo on the uniforms), or if you can make a small personal donation, please contact me at sine_thieme@yahoo.com We accept anything – Dollars, Euros, or Rands!

Anyone interested in finding out if there’s a baseball club near you click here

by Marvin Dieterich, a 13yr old who loves wheels, roller kidz, microscooters, skateboards and  bicycles.  Besides wheels, he also likes maths, reading, building things and baseball

Have you ever heard of Roller Kidz?

They’re really cool. My mom recently gave me a pair.

Here’s how I  learnt how to use them:

First my sister and I watched this video that shows you how to use them.

Then I adjusted and fitted them  on my shoes ( they can be adjusted to fit on any shoe)

Then I ventured onto the patio to try them out

………… until I’d mastered them enough to fetch my shades, beanie and ghetto  blaster. If you look closely you’ll see the flashing brightly coloured wheels.. cool wouldn’t you say?

by Laura-kim Allmayer, co-founder of Journey2Joy, mom to two little people, compulsive blogger and twitter addict. When she’s not blogging she’s planning baby showers and helping moms prepare for their new babies.

Being pregnant for a third time you would think I would have the hang of it.

Well you would be wrong!

Maybe if my kids were smaller it wouldn’t have been such an adjustment but my youngest is nearly 7 – so I was last pregnant 8 years ago!

Either I have a really bad memory or I blocked it out but I don’t remember it being this rough! It may also have something to do with the fact that I have 2 kids of school going age who require 110% of my time and energy.

When I manage to find the energy to actually sit and be calm I start to panic somewhat. In 6 months I will have THREE CHILDREN! The children will out number the adults! There will be more little people in my house than big people and anyone with kids knows that kids are more determined, have a stronger will that any adult and are able to reduce a grown person to tears in seconds.

Funnily enough as much as I am petrified of newborns that is not what is worrying me so much. What worries me is how I will keep control of three kids. Right now I manage to keep things going day to day – most days I barely manage to gasp for air. I won’t be able to keep doing this. I need an action plan.

I need meals made, extra muruals noted, homework sorted, school needs diarised and kids who remember their school shoes, can brush their teeth without 29 reminders, hand me letters before the morning the cupcakes/costume is needed.

I need Mary Poppins or the Nanny named Fran or someone equally capable of instilling some serious organisation into my life so that I don’t need to grab a brown paper bag every time I think of having THREE kids in the house!

How do you cope? What do you do to keep it all together?

provided by Diane Vaubell,  a work-from-home-mom to 2 small picky, vegetarians. She is an amateur blogger with obsessive addictions to food, photography and online social networking. Visit her  blog or catch her on @dirott

These Cheese & Onion scones are super delicious and because you don’t need to rollout the dough they’re super easy too. I usually shake things up by adding red pepper or corn to the onions as I fry them up. Baby spinach also works well. What I love about this recipe is that the scones can be frozen and can be whipped out the freezer in the mornings for lunchboxes (I freeze two per mini-plastic reseal-able bag).

Makes 12

Ingredients:
1 1/5 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons margarine
1 cup of cheddar cheese (grated)
1/2 cup chopped onion (a bit chunky)
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat over to 200 C (400F).
2. Grease a muffin tray.
3. Sauté the onions in some olive oil until clear.
4. Mix together flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Cut margarine into blocks (or make little blobs) and add to flour
6. Using the tips of your fingers rub the margarine into the flour until the flour is quite crumbly.
7. Add HALF a cup of the grated cheese and make a well in the middle of the mixture.
8. In a separate bowl beat the egg and add the milk and onion you cooked earlier.
9. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and combine until all the ingredients are mixed together and you have a soft wet dough.
10. Spoon the dough into the muffin tray.
11. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over each scone.
12. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cheese has melted and crisped and a sharp knife comes out clean.

provided by Diane Vaubell,  a work-from-home-mom to 2 small picky, vegetarians. She is an amateur blogger with obsessive addictions to food, photography and online social networking. Visit her  blog or catch her on @dirott

If you have a school-going age child then you’re no doubt in the swing of Back-To-School preparation. I thought I’d share some school lunch ideas to help break the monotony of the usual suspects (ham and cheese sandwiches, peanut butter and jam and marmite and cheese).

Warm lunches:
Insulated bags and containers now mean that you can send supper leftovers to school with your child and the meal should stay relatively warm until first break.

Pick ’n Pay sell a Fuel-branded insulated container, which I use to send pasta’s, stews and left-over veggies to school. I don’t put it in the dishwasher and it generally lasts for about a year or two. Well worth it for the ± R40 price tag.
In Winter you could send soups in a thermos flask with a bread serve on the side.

Salads:
The idea of lettuce wilting makes the idea of taking salads to school unappealing. But what if you replaces the lettuce with pasta or couscous? The carbohydrates would make the meal more substantial and the starch wouldn’t wither under the weight of the dressing. If you’re making pasta for dinner just keep some aside and add cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, onions and some dressing.

Crudités:
Crudités are a great way to boost your child’s 5-a-day and as long you’re packing fresh, crisp veggies they enjoy with a dip they like then you’re sure to get empty lunch boxes at the end of the day.

Veggie ideas:
Cucumber sticks
Carrot sticks
Cherry tomatoes
Baby corn
Sugar snap peas
Mange tout
Raw cauliflower florets
Lightly steamed baby asparagus
Quartered mushrooms
Celery sticks
Green Beans

Dip ideas:
Hummus
Sour cream dip
Low-fat cream cheese
Tzatziki
Guacamole
Cottage cheese
You can also include Melba toast or Provita as an accompanying carb.

Freeze Ahead:
I’m a huge fan of freezing lunchbox snacks and pulling them out the freezer in the morning . As long as you’ve individually packed your portions then you shouldn’t have issues of sticking.

The following snacks freeze well in mini-plastic bags (most plastic shops sell re-sealable bags in batches of 100 at very reasonable prices).

Muffins (savory or sweet). Make your own or buy trays and freeze in plastic bags.

Onion and Cheese scones (see recipe)

Crumpets (sweet or savory)

Banana Bread

If it’s summer I don’t worry about defrosting as the snacks defrost within an hour or so. In Winter you may want to take your snack out the freezer the night before.

When packing lunches try remember that a little effort will go a long way to creating a meal your child will look forward to. Here are some tips:

A mini ice-brick in a insulated lunch bag will keep yoghurts, cheese, cold meats and fruits cooler for longer

If you’re adding sliced tomatoes to a sandwich then avoid the bread from going soggy by placing a layer of lettuce leaves on each side of the bread with the tomato in between. This acts as a “waterproof” barrier against the tomato juices.

Where possible, peel and cut the fruit.

Include plastic cutlery for yoghurts, salads etc.

Sandwiches don’t have to be boring. Alternate fillings and bread type (brown, whole-wheat, Omega 3, linseed, rye, bagels, English muffins, wraps, rolls, pita etc).

Here’s to a year of empty returned lunchboxes!

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.

Whew! It is a balmy evening in Joburg and I’m glad to be finally sipping wine with my feet up after an entire day at Gold Reef City. This was our first excursion there in the nine months we’ve lived here, seven kids in tow. It was a pleasant surprise. Even though I generally find amusement parks extremely tiring and would much rather spend the day poolside with a good book, this one I can recommend.

First off, it is very modern, with beautiful landscaping, and not in any way dated like some other parks I’ve been to. Also, the rides are so well built around each other, sharing the same space, so to speak, that only small distances have to be bridged with a minimum of walking. You can easily cross from one end to the other in 10 minutes. The entire place resembles Disney World, but on a much smaller scale and with a theme of – fittingly – gold mining. In fact, the park is built around an old mine shaft which you can even take a train into.

There is a central town square with shops and restaurants, surrounded by a host of rides, a 3-D movie theater with special effects, an animal farmyard, a hands-on science center that is quite good, a train museum, and the obligatory Ferris Wheel (a fast one!). A hotel is enclosed within the park, and you will even find a casino next door (or, for the more culturally inclined, the Apartheid Museum across the street).

The rides range from the very scary (Anaconda, Tower of Terror) to the wet (Raging River Rapids), nauseating (UFO), and child friendly (everything in Kiddies Corner). Almost no queuing at the ave swing. The best part is the price (we paid R1,120 or $165 for nine people and parking was free, plus the food prices in the park are very reasonable as well).

The worst part were the lines. At first I thought this was due to my infinite wisdom of choosing December 27, a holiday, for our outing, but I’ve since heard that it is almost always this crowded. As a result, it seemed like we spent most of the day waiting. In perhaps the worst combination of African patience and English queuing, South Africans seem to have no compunction about waiting one and a half hours for a two-minute ride on the Anaconda. While this might be a character virtue, it doesn’t work out well in self-limiting the overcrowding of an amusement park. But since the park was so easy to navigate, it was also easy to split up into different groups, so that those who insisted on plunging (face downward, mind you!) from the Tower of Terror could go and settle in the line, while the other – saner – half of our group had fun with the lesser-crowded attractions. All in all, a great summer holiday outing!

By Justin Foxton, husband and dad to a 6 & 5 month old, a 10 & 4 week old –none his own yet. Founder of “Stop Crime Say Hello” and a crisis home for abandoned babies called The Baby House. This is a sequel to an article I wrote for Jozikids about finding baby Hope in November 2010

On the 15th June 2010 a small, terrified 17 hour old baby girl landed at our Baby House in Durban. She had been found lying naked behind a clinic with her umbilical cord still attached. The policeman who found her named her Junior. We changed her name to Hope 6 months later – on the 13th December 2010, Hope’s name changed once again – this time for good. Andy and Samantha – her new adoptive parents named her Rosa. Rosa Hope. In 6 months she had gone from being abandoned to being found, from being HIV+ to HIV negative, from having all manner of infant illnesses andinsecurities to being a well, bouncy, bubbly, chatty, character-filled little girl. Hope.

We all miss her desperately but we are so delighted that she has been adopted by such an incredible couple. They are the type of people we need more of in South Africa – they decided from day 1 to have one of their own and adopt one. Zakes – there gorgeous young son – has his much anticipated sister Rosa. Thank you to you all for helping to give this baby an incredible start in life. Without your help this would not be possible. God bless and much love, Justin & Cathy 082 3541839