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.

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

EXPLORE  PLAY – Year One

I have long stopped reading about where my baby “should be” with his milestone developments, so I was a little nervous about watching Explore Play, frightened that the experts would be telling me that my baby would be ruined for life since he wasn’t crawling or feeding himself with a spoon. I needn’t have worried, for on Explore Play, it felt like I had found friends, who encourage humour rather than strict rules when playing with babies, and who give extremely useful advice that any mom, new or experienced, can benefit from.

Explore Play sets out to encourage play and support milestone development, and features the producer Tanya Haffern, along with Ann Richardson (of Baby Sense fame), and Shannon Eggers, a play therapist. The DVD is divided into four sections (0-3 months, 4-6 months, 7-9 months and 10-12 months) and features discussions and play ideas relating to each baby stage. The play section is divided in outdoor, kitchen, water and general, plus there are safety tips, and a helpful ingredients list (ie what you need for each game). Before each game, we are also told which skills are developed (eg physical, intellectual, language).

One of the first bits of expert advice is that your baby is an individual with his own strengths, that no two babies develop the same way, and that milestones happen along a natural path of progression. My favourite advice though was that we should relax, take pleasure in our babies, enjoy playtime, and never make it a mission or chore.

There are great discussions and advice around stimulation and overstimulation (echoing Ann’s BabySense philosophy), and how to understand your baby and read their cues. I felt it would have been useful to cross-reference to pictures or real babies while the experts were talking so that the viewer could have visually “got” what they were talking about.

I liked many of the games, and appreciated that most of the materials can probably be found at home. The games are age-appropriate, though I’ve already tried some of the younger games with my baby, and he loved them, while two or three of the games in his category are a little bit too tricky. But as the experts in Explore Play say, if babies aren’t ready or enjoying a game, move on, and try again the following week. Our favourites have been water balloons and syringe squirting in the bath, a play drawer in the kitchen, and flowers in floating water.

I will definitely follow Explore Play Year Two when we’re ready for more fabulous advice, reassurance and play ideas that come with no guilt or big expense!

Click here for  information about Explore Play

BABYNASTICS (3-6 months, 6-9 months, 9-12 months)

With so many baby stimulation classes out there, I often worry that as a working mom, I don’t have the op portunity to participate with my 10-month-old son in them, plus I’m sometimes concerned that maybe he is not reaching his development potential. So I was ecstatic (and relieved of the guilt) when I came across a DVD that offers easy and accessible stimulation exercises at home.

The exercises, formulated in conjunction with a paediatric occupational therapist, are aimed at encouraging brain and body development, and can be followed straight from the TV (think Jane Fonda aerobics for parents and babes!). The three DVDs have exercises and advice for each respective age group (eg learning when to stimulate for 3-6 months, developing skills for sitting, rolling and crawling for 6-9 months, developing gross and fine motor skills for 9-12 months). The DVDs don’t assume that your baby will definitely be at a certain stage, and so exercises are adapted, for example in cases where babies are crawling, and when they’re not.

What I loved is that the exercises are easy to watch and do – they’re gentle and fun, and often done while singing songs or using basic equipment such as different textures, boxes, paper or a stability ball. What’s more, you’ll probably find that you do some of the exercises already, without realising it. The exercises aren’t too overwhelming, but when my baby did get tired or lose interest, I simply stopped and started when he was ready again, as per the suggestion.

Another reason why I liked this DVD series is that there’s “real talk” from mom to baby – no baby talk or cootchie coos. My baby’s childminder has also watched the series and enjoyed it, and it feels like we’re effortlessly adding more stimulation exercises daily. Now if only there was an adult version of the DVD that could help one shed those last few post-preggo kilos!

Click here for more information on Babynastics or to order accessories

By Marion Smith, mom of 4 boys, the youngest her 15 month old twins.  After working as an au pair for 7 years both locally and abroad, Marion established her own agency called Aupairs Exclusive which is where she works now when she’s not being a mum.

If you haven’t quite decided whether or not to employ the services of an Au pair, then this list of advantages will surely help to convince you that there are far more advantages than disadvantages when making this important decision.

ADVANTAGES:

DISADVANTAGES:

Deciding to employ the services of an aupair should not be a decision that is taken lightly and it is suggested that parents thoroughly investigate possible candidates, should they decide to go ahead.

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

Getting kids enthusiastic about reading may seem like a monumental task when you see all the techno-competition around—video games, movies, computer games etc. Actually, one can use all sort of elements to get kids as enthusiastic about books as they are about all their other gadgets.

Most of the time, children are either bored or switched off by the reading choices at school. Kids are riveted by what interests them, so find out what captures your child’s imagination, and direct their attention toward the books on that subject/s.

Kids love computers so turn the idea of reading around—let them create their own story, become an author. What could be more empowering! This will allow them ‘ownership’ of the story, and that’s an irresistible challenge for any child. The subject can be about them, an incident, or a fictitious character. They’ll not just create it but illustrate it (either their own drawings or using images available from the Internet), design it and print it out. You’ll be amazed at what happens once the child takes charge of their own project. You can help your child develop the story, getting them to write it out first by hand, and then going through it several times (maybe another family member can also give their input). They can then create the project on the computer. When it’s finished, suggest the child hand it in to their grade teacher for inclusion in the school magazine or newspaper. Or perhaps it’s a gift for a grandparent or family member. You could even have it properly bound at your local stationers.

Praise and success are incredibly motivating factors in any child’s development. They’ll automatically feel inspired to achieve more. Now you can introduce new activities that show books in a very novel light.

Find a book you both like and, besides reading together, ask your child to suggest alternative actions on the part of certain characters, asking if they agree on how the story is unfolding, and how they would have written the characters’ actions if they disagree. Encouraging a thought process will make your child feel their opinion counts. Once the book is finished, have your child write a ‘review’ and even send it to your local bookshop or library. Imagine their pride and delight if the review is published in a local newspaper, or put up on the library notice board.

A book series is a wonderful way to capture a child’s imagination. If they ‘bond’ with a character such as a young hero/ine, they’ll be eager to continue reading the series as each new book comes out. Two of the most popular that spring to mind immediately are Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter. You can cement this enthusiasm by buying hard cover books for your child as ‘collectibles’—something to be cherished and read again and again. If there’s a movie, even better, and merchandising such as T-shirts, mugs, badges etc, also keep the enthusiasm going.

Following on with the above, most successful books have websites with interesting aspects to explore. Is the series set in a real or fantasy place? Do the characters have important choices to make? Don’t be afraid to let your child get onto the computer and read all about the series, the author, the movie, the actors, the settings, and the characters. Ask your child questions about what they have learned and praise their research.

It doesn’t matter how your child comes to enjoy the written word, but that he or she does. Some imaginative ways of ‘packaging’ the reading process will reap wonderful results.

by Axel Bührmann, a journalist, publisher, and aspiring photographer, with a long-lasting interest in Geekdom (that’s the world of computers and consumer electronics). He takes far too many photographs, but is willing to share them on Flickr You can also visit his website

Made our second trip to the Simba Delta Park Playground yesterday – still impressed at how neat and clean it seems to be, etc. (Went there on the day of the opening – did wonder, this being Jozi and all, how long it would last!). Even risked a boerie roll (at only R15 – this is not Cape Town, that’s for sure!), and am still alive to tell the tale. Should have been someone selling coffee – the li’l place was humming. In fact, a Simba chip or two would not have gone astray.

A minor concern; just to the right (facing north) of the playground is a little bridge and beyond that a small dam – we can see how easily it may be for kiddies to wander off in that direction. Just seemed a bit unsafe.

Other than that, a good time was had by all, as you will see via my “spy cam”

People were braaing and picnicking to such an extent that I started looking around for the Ayoba sign somewhere (Rainbow Nation/World Cup spirit and all)

Echoes of Wallace and Gromit (you can see I’m the parent of a toddler!),  as there was even a lady who took her toaster out for a day in the sun
Guess we’ll be back, but next time with some more of our own sustenance.

Does anyone have any idea how many more of these will be going up? I seem to recall reading about quite a number, but judging by the quality of the playground, I’m sure each sends the Simba chaps back a bit in the wallet region.

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

My families response to Mandela’s call to spend 67 minutes helping others on his birthday was to join a friend who invited us to go with them to Quakazani Primary School in Orange Farm. We went laden with children’s books  for the library,  games,  hot chocolate and sandwiches.

We were shocked to find a library containing mainly tattered old text books and empty shelves. Our books barely filled one of  the  shelves.

Then we unpacked a collection of very simple fun games which we spent the morning playing.

.

Our  kids taught other children how to play  UNO, the card game we had brought.

We played  snakes & ladders,  building towers with cards, 4 in a row. There was storytelling,  colouring in, some netball and soccer while some of the adults started helping to document the books we had brought for the library.

It was a wonderful way of bringing these children from such different worlds together to share and play. Thank you Madiba and happy birthday.

What did you do with your children on Mandela day? We would love to hear your stories.