Archive for April, 2011

by Bheki Khoza-Mabona, Uj communications student who loves nature and has a passion for writing and composing poetry. Find him on  twitter @TheRealBheki

The love of a mother never perishes…

It’s been five years, 11 months since I last saw your face and with each passing day I remember the love we once shared, the times I looked into your face and shared a joke with you. With you time was precious and moments shared were always recreated and re-invented.

You chose me and I chose you back, back in 1987 on the 22nd of February (The month of love).  You gave me life, you natured me into a son, without a man in the house, a father figure to guide me.  You never disappointed but made me a boy amongst others. You  taught me important life lessons that looking back now, I see  and still feel you  right beside me. Your love for me still lingers in everything I touch.

You loved me before you saw me, you took care of me before somebody else could help you look after me. How can I now not honour your legacy.  How can I make you proud?

I know I made you proud  as the first of your  8 children to see the doors of a university,  when I was selected student of the year at High school and read  my poetry at school gatherings.  Now I’m on my way to getting my  university degree and  know I am still making you proud.

Grace Cynthia Mhlanga you are the superhero and will always be the guide in my life. Thank  you for instilling the foundations of listening and understanding with the knowlege that  I was loved by a woman who left me and my siblings too soon. Your love  love and lessons remain to guide us in the present  and into the future!

P.S. This blurry photo of my mom with my siblings is the only one I still have in my album.

My mom was 54 when she died.  She was a domestic helper, she was a very strong willed women, loved church, had 8 kids (2 boys and 6 girls) who she raised in a 4 bed roomed house. She was a  Christian and loved her kids regardless of what we all turned out to be.

by Genevieve Young, a Life Coach for teens and a Sri Sri Yoga teacher who also runs practical workshops on achieving wellness and centredness in these busy times. Visit her website to find out more.

Us women are truly wonderful creatures.

We are always ready to give to others, whether it be our friends, family, job, parents… Loving and nurturing others is our second nature, and it brings us a lot of joy and happiness.

But what women are not so good at is RECEIVING love, care and help. We say, “Don’t worry I’ll do it” when in actual fact we are exhausted and would love for someone else to do it.

Sound familiar?

For whatever reason, we find it hard to just say, “I need help” or “I can’t today”. Unfortunately the result of always giving out to others and not taking back is that we get more and more drained. We then tend to become angry and resentful towards those we love the most. Doesn’t really seem fair right?

The truth is that the people in your life would love to help and care for you, but just don’t how (because you’ve never told them!)

This Mother’s Day is a great opportunity to allow your loved ones to spoil you and learn a little more about how they can support you more often.

Here are some ideas:
1. Allow your husband or partner to do all the arrangements, shopping and planning for the Mother’s Day weekend. You will be tempted to jump in and help or give advice, but RESIST. Just trust your partner to do it and relax. Does it really matter if you don’t have the exact brand of bread you normally have? The rest and peace of mind you get from being looked after will be worth it, I promise.

2. Inform your family that you will be sleeping in on Mother’s Day. Let them know that you would really like some quiet time on that morning please. Tell then who to callthey urgently need something that morning, so they don’t bother you.

3. Call up your girlfriends and watch your favourite tearjerker. If your friends can’t come to you for the movie, plan the event at one of their houses. Just being yourself with your friends is food for the soul.

4. Let someone else cook and clean up. I know they are probably not going to cook what you had in mind, and perhaps not as well as you would have, but it’s ok. Your family is not going to starve and who knows, maybe you’ll discover a fabulous cook in your midst? Again, just relax and let it happen, no back-seat cooking please. That just defeats the whole relaxing part of it. If you still can’t let go, then get out of the house until the food is cooked.

5. Engage in your favourite creative activity or hobby. You’ve probably been putting this off, so get out your painting, sewing, scrapbooking, mosaic etc. Whichever activity that gets your creative juices flowing.

Here’s to you letting go this Mother’s Day and being spoilt!

Enjoy it, you deserve it !

Listen to Merle from jozikids.co.za talk to Amor every Sunday morning about what to do with your kids and families on the weekend and the  week ahead.

If you haven’t discovered it yet, Jozikids is the most up-to-date and detailed resource for parents in the Gauteng region to find what you need for your kids and famlies including events, activities, venues and lessons.

Lets see what we’ve got for you on  Sunday, May 1 :

A great family venue with something for everyone is Dirt Ryders Adventures on the West Rand, near Lanseria – they have  a restaurant where you can also braai if you want to plus loads of activities including go-karting ( from 6yrs), paintball, archery, volleyball a swimming pool, kids playground and pony rides.  They’re open from 9am-6.30pm daily, the restaurant opens until 10pm

Then if it’s animals you want to see – why not visit a special little zoo called Lory Park Zoo – they have lions tigers, leopards, linxes and more.  Exotic parrots keep you company at their tea garden. During school holidays they organise Ranger Days where you can leave your child at the zoo to be trained as a mini-ranger. From 8am-4pm your child will  learn to feed the animals and all about their habitat. Open every day 10am-4pm, cost R55 adults; R35 kids 2-12yrs,pensioners. They’re in President Park, NE Joburg

Then the whole family can get creative at Artjamming. They have are branches in Lonehill, Fourways and Blubird Shopping Centre in Athol.  Artjamming is “paintertainment” . No drawing or painting skills are needed. You receive canvases, acrylic paints on tap, and tools to freely express yourselve.  You can let your mind loose and fill the canvas with colours and inspiration. From R95 pp for 2 hours depending on the size of the canvas, incl materials. Open every day. Call for details of times.

The next very important day filled with activities coming up is Mother’s day next Sunday. A short preview of what to expect. We’ll have much more for you next Sunday:

Hazel Food Market in Hazelwood Pretoria is organizing a Mother’ Day Candlelight Market next Saturday night.

There are 2 Mother’s Day concerts coming up on Sunday- so you can pack your picnic baskets and head for either  the  Joburg Zoo where you’ll hear the likes of,  The Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, The Bala Brothers and Tamara Dey for an unforgettable performance, fit for a queen

OR

the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens in Roodepoort where the band “She” is set to entertain moms, young and old with a string of hits from the 60’s through to the 90’s

That’s it for this week.  You’ll find tons more ideas on Jozikids if you need anything else.

Here’s wishing everyone a wonderful week and we’ll be back on Mother’s day with Amor next Sunday between 10.30 and 11am.

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.

I have no patience for people who don’t like Harry Potter because a boy doing magic is not realistic. The same goes for the Narnia series and the idea of this other ancient world. There are so many great parts in these stories, and so much to learn from their characters, that all you have to do is suspend your disbelief of the overall premise and truly enjoy them.

But I admit I struggled a bit with that in the movie Thor. There was just too much all at once. It starts out promising, with a mysterious cosmic beam somewhere in the desert of New Mexico, which the scientist Jane (Natalie Portman), together with her father and sister, sets out to track. The experience soon turns scary and they scramble to escape in their truck, only to accidentally hit a man who appears out of nowhere. So far so good. But then we’re taken back in time to Norway in the 10th century to learn about an ancient war that involved several battling worlds, or realms, with the one of Asgard under King Odin (Anthony Hopkins) victorious, and since then the protector of mankind by keeping the peace. Only the peace is now threatened as an aging Odin is handing his son Thor (Chris Hemsworth) the crown while traitors from the realm of the Frost Giants break into Asgard to start a new war. Thor, hot-headed and easily provoked, decides to defy his father’s wishes and takes his friends to Yodenheim, where a lot more fighting ensues, which is one of the scenes I found a bit hard to believe. It’s part gladiators, part intergalactic warriors, and part mythical gods. With, oddly, some medieval-type horse riding thrown in for good measure. In any case, Odin is eventually able to save the group from certain death but is furious with Thor and banishes him to Earth, bringing us back to the start of the movie, as of course the man appearing out of nowhere is Thor.

I think it might be easier to be drawn in if you knew the Marvel comic series this is all based on, which would give you a good background as well as appreciation of this universe of different realms and the role of the gods and demigods populating it. But, being a mother – even if an understanding one – I’ve never heard anything about any of this, and it took me a while to find my way through all these worlds and feuds to embrace them wholeheartedly.

I liked the movie much better once Thor was on Earth. Stripped of all his powers but still very strong, he sets out to get back Mjolnir, his magical hammer, which has landed not far away and attracted a big crowd of spectators as well as a group of vaguely sinister FBI-like government workers intent on analyzing it. There were some comical scenes when Thor, used to being a god, clashes with modern-day inconveniences such as moving vehicles, but he soon learns his way around (conveniently being the English-speaking kind of god), helped by Jane, who is intent on getting back all her equipment confiscated by the government guys. As you might have guessed, the two of them fall in love and make a very good pair. It turns out getting back Mjolnir is not as easy as it looks, because Odin stipulated that only “one who is worthy of its powers” would be able to carry it, and Thor’s brother Loki (brilliantly played by Tom Hiddleston) further complicates things by waging his own battle for the future of Asgard.

I personally could have done with a lot less heavy fighting and all sorts of unbelievable weapons (that miraculously never hit the good guys even though huge fireballs are flying every which way), which is also a reason I wouldn’t take any of my younger kids to see this movie. In the end it all does come together and the storyline is pretty good. Overall, Thor reminds me of Star Trek the movie, with the same epic battle between good and evil. I especially liked the coming-of-age of Thor’s character, the idea that you have to be more than brave to be a wise leader, that you have to truly care for others, putting your own ambitions aside, that not strength and power but humility and self-sacrifice will gain you the greatest respect. Oh, and the acting was also pretty good. The ending of the movie was especially redeeming. Not cheesy and, of course, leaving room for a sequel!

Rated: PG-13

Length: 2 hrs 10 min

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins

by Merle Dieterich, passionate mom and businesswoman whose 2 beautiful children, Lerato and Marvin never cease to amaze and teach her about what counts. You’ll find her at  jozikids.co.za

This review submitted by Corrinne Lamoral on Jozikids, sparked my interest in Acrobranch:

This is a wonderful outing in the heart of Joburg. I took my three children, age 4 1/2, 6 1/2 and 10 and they all loved it. There are stages for every age and much is decided by height – my tall 4 1/2 year old did the beginning of the Cheetah’s course and when the ropes got too high for him (and got a bit scary), the guide safely lowered him down. You do need to keep an eye on your children as they have the responsibility of remembering to keep a carabiner attached to the guide ropes at all times. Bring two parents if you have children of different ages otherwise you’ll be running back and forth. This was the most enjoyable two hours spent under the trees on a Sunday morning, we’ll be back! (PS: booking ahead is essential)

So one Sunday morning my entire family of 4 made our way there.

First each child  aged 9 and 13 yrs, was decked out with gear

Then a quick lesson and practise session

And then they were off. My husband and I watched in amazement as they disappeared with their ropes and carabiners, swinging and balancing.  Our only complaint was that we had stiff necks the next day from watching them perform their amazing feats up in the trees. We’ll also be back and maybe then, the adults will also have a go!

Click here to find out more about Acrobranch

Jozikids.co.za helps you find out what to do with your kids and families.  Catch Merle from Jozikids on Amor Vitonne’s  show, every Sunday morning, to find out what to do with your kids and families today and in the week ahead.

If you haven’t discovered it yet, www.jozikids.co.za is the most up to date and detailed resource for parents in the Gauteng region to find what you need including events, activities, venues and lessons. Let’s see what they’ve got for you today Easter Sunday, April 24th

In Johannesburg , there’s Yeesh! for Fun, an indoor playground with a branch in Woodmead and Bryanston. They’ll have an Easter display with egg painting for kids today. They’re open until 5pm. It costs R45 per hour per child and Adult’s are free.

In Pretoria Ludwig’s Rose Farm, Spiced Coffee Restaurant & Butterfly Gardenyou’re your kids will meet the Easter bunny who has colourful pine cones, stones & Mache eggs the kids have to find in exchange for a chocolate bunny & sweet hamper. They also have tractor rides through the rose fields plus an exotic butterfly garden & insect & reptile room, a must see for adults & kids. – also open on Monday and Wednesday public holidays

On the West Rand in Muldersdrift at Garden World, your children can paint their own Easter Pot followed by an Easter Egg Hunt starts at 12h00 on Sunday and Monday.

Trees Eco Fun Park in Benoni on the East Rand is a self catering venue where kids can have fun. explore, play, learn and get dirty Bring your picnic baskets and let your kids  climb trees, crawl through a tunnel, hide in a bush cave or tree house, make mudcakes (if mom packs some extra clothes!, dig and build in the huge sandpit…and hopefully go to bed early – Lovely picnic spots abound, so please bring your own snacks They’re open until 6pm and it only costs R20pp

And finally at Zwartkops Quad Centre on Monday morning your kids can search for  golden eggs which they then exchange for free laps on the Quad Bike Track. Don’t forget to bring your picnic basket.

Here’s wishing everyone a wonderful family day tomorrow and Merle will  be back with Amor on Jacaranda next Sunday with ideas of what you can do with your kids and families.

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.

The world is so fast-changing in many areas of life that our kids don’t have much of a connection to what we, their parents, would consider the more recent past. They have no idea what a walkman is, they have never seen a phone that’s connected to the wall with a cord, and they certainly would chuckle at the idea of a “floppy disk.”

But while that’s okay in the realm of technology, it’s not such a good thing when it comes to history. If you’re a kid in South Africa today, you have no idea how different your life is from less than twenty years ago. Apartheid sounds like a technical term, and putting an end to it seems almost like a foregone conclusion from today’s vantage point.

Fortunately, there is a great way to bring this history alive, right here in Jozi at the Apartheid Museum. Especially older kids, anywhere from age ten upwards, will benefit greatly from a visit. In addition to learning a lot of new facts, they will experience what Apartheid might have felt like for those who lived through it

This point will come across right when they enter the museum. When you purchase your ticket, you are classified as ‘white’ or ‘non-white’, which will determine which entrance to the museum you must use.

It seems like a small thing, a little trick, but it actually has a profound impact to set the right tone. You walk through a cage-like structure with hundreds of replicated ID-cards on display, and you cannot help but feel a chill when you approach the race classification board at the other end.

From there you are channeled back to the outside where you walk among mirror-like displays of “ordinary people,”to contrast the rigid separation of the apartheid state with the free mingling of people of all races taking place today.

Some of the most haunting displays are life-size photographs taken during the various uprisings in black townships and the brutal response they elicited from the police.

Towards the end of the museum you will find a truck on display, the kind that was used by police to drive into townships and quell uprisings. It looks more like a tank and gives you a strong sensation of the power of the state versus the oppressed masses, but also of the fear most whites must have felt in the presence of so many black people.

While most of today’s kids were born after the early 1990s, adult visitors will be struck by how recent all of this history is. Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990. In 1993, he and then president FW de Klerk received the Nobel Peace Prize for their tireless efforts to ensure a peaceful transition to democracy. But during those few years in between South Africa experienced a lot of turmoil and it was not at all clear that any kind of consensus on the future of the country could be reached.

All in all, the Apartheid Museum is a worthwhile visit for your family. You could combine it with a trip to Gold Reef City, which is right next door – and “sweeten the deal” with the promise of roller-coaster rides after the museum “drudgery,” but it might be a bit exhausting to do both in one day.

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.

I admit it. I’m one of those moms who need to bring a pack of tissues when taking the kids to a movie. Even if it’s an animated movie. When my oldest son was about 2 years old and a friend had loaned us Lion King, I wanted to make sure it was going to be appropriate, so I watched it first on my own. Within minutes I was totally absorbed by the story and soon sat there bawling, making for a very surprised husband when he came home that night and saw me so distraught.

So you might take any movie advice of mine with a grain of salt, but I can highly recommend the movie Rio for your entire family, especially with kids in the 5-12 age range. It’s about a parrot named Blu who was taken from the rainforest as a baby and has lived all his life in Minnesota with his loving owner Linda. But his quiet and somewhat neurotic (because human-like) existence is suddenly interrupted when an ornithologist from Brazil brings the news that Blu is the last remaining male of his species and that they’ve found his female counterpart, Jewel. At first Blu and Linda are very skeptical at the prospect of traveling to Rio to bring the two together, but they are soon persuaded by the very charming Túlio to set out on the adventure of their lifetimes.

As you can imagine, things don’t go smoothly once they arrive in Rio. Jewel turns out to be very beautiful but not cooperative, and her only goal is to break free and return to the rainforest. Meanwhile, a group of nasty kidnappers – or rather birdnappers – is after the two rare macaws to sell them for a high price. A high-speed chase ensues when Blu and Jewel, with the help of some whacky friends they make along the way, try to escape the smugglers while Linda and Túlio set out to find them, complicated by the fact that Blu has never learned to fly. Of course, this being Rio de Janeiro, their adventure takes place during carnival, which makes for some additional excitement as well as a great soundtrack (though Blu, at some point when he’s very exasperated, confesses that “I hate Samba,” causing his new Brazilian friends to gasp in shock).

Blu is an endearing and funny character whom your kids will love for his courage as well as his weaknesses and fears. He reminds me of the giraffe Melman in Madagascar, while the movie itself has a similar feel to Up (another one of my must-bring-tissues experiences). While Up perhaps had a more captivating story line, it was also a bit scarier for the younger audience. Rio does feature bad guys – which story doesn’t – but most of them are also a bit simple-minded, like the robbers in Home Alone, so I think you can safely bring even your smaller kids to Rio to enjoy a feel-good and entertaining story.

Rated: G

Length: 1 hr 36 min

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jesse Eisenberg, will.i.am, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez

by Erin Ismay, art lover and creative enthusiast, venturing into the world of business running art and craft parties for kids,  loves travel, photography and spending time with her hubby! She’s also the owner of  pop art parties

This is my favourite Easter activity from when I was a child. We did this every year as a family and then would exchange our painted eggs on Easter day! The best part is that they are edible!

You will need:
White candy coated chocolate Easter eggs
Food colouring
Paint brush or cotton buds
Water
Paper towel
Containers for food colouring

Step 1:
Put some food colouring in small containers. You can dilute the colour with water to make it lighter, but be sure not to take too much diluted colouring onto your brush as if its too watery it will run. Otherwise use the colour as is undiluted. For younger kids, use cotton buds to paint with as they soak up extra water. For older kids who want to be more precise in their designs, use a thin brush.

Step 2
You can either hold your egg with your fingers and paint it, or set it in an egg holder and do the top half and then bottom. You can be as creative as you want to do whatever designs come into your head. At the end you should have some beautiful eggs that you can eat later! Enjoy!

by Minette Tonoli, mom to 2 gorgeous girls  (4 + 9mnths), passionate homeschooler and herb lover. Owner of herbs on line

All things sweet these days are saturated with artificial flavourants and colourants, and all the brightly coloured Easter egg candy on display is probably not any different. For something a little different, when making and colouring your own eggs, try using natural colourants – you’ll be surprised to find that many herbs and spices and other foodstuffs you might have handy can give quite surprising colour tints to your boiled Easter eggs. Here is what you do for a quick Easter egg colouring craft.

Instructions ( see colouring options below)

1.       Put your eggs in a fairly large pot – it should be large enough for four eggs to boil without touching or stacking.
-Fun idea – why not draw on your eggs with wax crayon or candles before you colour them – the colouring will not adhere to the wax and your design will show off after the eggs have been coloured. Or tie rubber bands around your eggs to have them look “tie-dyed” after colouring.

2.       Fill the pan with water enough to cover the eggs by about 1cm

3.       Add 2 tsp of white vinegar to the water

4.       Add your dye colour (see ideas below).

-Note that it may take quite a bit of dye material to get vivid colours, e.g. 2tbsp of Turmeric, 2 cups of onion skins, ¼ cup hibiscus flowers etc. It could be great fun having the kids experiment with different amounts of dye material to see the effects.

5. Boil your mixture and reduce to simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes

6. Remove the eggs with a strainer onto a bowl covered with towel (or I simply used the egg carton they came in) and let dry

7. If at this point you don’t think your eggs are coloured enough, you can add them back to your colouring liquid and leave overnight.

8. As a final touch, if you wish, gently rub cooking oil over your eggs to give them a shinier look

Colouring options

Red/Pink – Fresh beets, canned/frozen cherries
Orange – Yellow onion skins / Paprika
Light yellow – Lemon peels / Orange peels / Ground cumin spice / Chamomile tea
Golden yellow – Ground Turmeric
Blue – Red Cabbage Leaves (preboiled for about 30 minutes) / Blueberries (crushed)
Purple – Grape juice
Brown/Beige – Strong coffee / Black tea / Black walnuts shells
Golden brown – Dill seeds
Orange brown – Chili powder
Light green – Spinach leaves (boiled)
Violet / purple – Violet blossoms / Hibiscus tea / Red wine

**Pictured eggs made with Turmeric (gold) and variety of effects with Hibiscus tea (blue/purple)