I am a newbie to blogging and to be honest I simply enjoy writing every single post. I always wanted to start my own blog but with being a full-time mom and completing my Masters, doing it prior to this year was just not possible. Although I graduated in 2015, 2016 was just as busy. I feel that the right time has arrived and I can put my thoughts in writing. The layout and design of my blog is still in the infant stages and I’m still playing around with it, however I believe that it will develop into something awesome as time passes.
My blog is a mixture of a lot of things and therefore my focus is not just on parenting. Although a mom of older children who are out of the infant and toddler stage, I can still relate to topics on sleepless nights, teething problems, breastfeeding and the whole shebang of what first time mommies go through and therefore some of my posts will also feature topics related to the aforementioned. There is a three year age gap between my two girls, Lea and Mika and they are in primary school and of course in the preteens phase. Yes I am sad that I have only started my blog now and not when my girls were babies and that I did not capture their milestones and our challenges as parents in writing but as a mom of “preteens” there are so much to write about. They are now at a stage where their image is important, they have their own opinions, they are more aware of their emotions and therefore parenting takes a little bit of a shift from when they were little babies and toddlers. My husband and I also have more time to do things as a couple now as to when they were babies. We enjoy going on date nights and just doing things together that we use to before we had children. I suppose having older children makes it easier.
Parenting
As parents we have an enormous influence on our children’s life’s from the day they are born. We play an important role in their development and ultimately the people they grow up to become.
As parents we also shouldn’t forget that our children are individuals and as they grow we need to change our parenting style. But raising kids can be tough and as parents we don’t always know if we are making the right decisions.
Despite the challenges of parenthood, it is also very rewarding and knowing that those little people are a mixture of what you and your spouse/partner created and that all that you can give them if nothing else in life is unconditional love.
Family
My family is very important to me, in actual fact having a healthy relationship with my family is a priority in my life. But my family does not just end with my husband and two daughters – it includes my parents, my in-laws, sister and her family and well as extended family like aunts, uncles and cousins. Both my parents come from big families, so as a child I was always surrounded by cousins.
Family are those people who support you through your struggles and your highlights in life. They are the people who understand you best, your habits, your flaws and they accept you for who you are.
So family gatherings and things we do together is important to me and I try to instill that love for family in my own children. As children they need to know where they fit in, what their family values are and that they are loved. They need to know their family history and grow up with beautiful memories of their grandparents, uncles and aunts and cousins they grow up with and most of all the importance of family values. Yes families are not perfect but we need to keep those lines of communication open, make time for each other and still have that level of respect for each person.
To this section of my blog will feature family gatherings and things that we enjoy doing as a family.
Date Nights
Before we had kids, my husband and I use to do such a lot of things together – we use to go away for weekends, go out every second night for dinner and just enjoy life as a childless couple. But things changed the day our first child was born, we had to prioritise our time around her. When the second child arrived three years later there was even more responsibility and less time for what we wanted to do. So strictly speaking there was no time. Yes the odd wedding we would be invited to or braai at a friend’s place would see us asking our parents to baby sit but we kind of never prioritised time for each other.
So four years ago when our youngest daughter started play school, we decided to make US a priority again and to invest in our relationship with “time”. Time for just us. Throughout our very busy lives, it was something we had to pencil in on the calendar. Even though we initially decided to do it every second week then became only once a month and sometimes it had to be rescheduled due to some unforeseen event. But through all of this, we manage to fit it in and reclaim our time for each.
At first my daughters couldn’t understand why we wanted to go on a date night without them – they were like “you already married so why do you want to date, shouldn’t you have done that before you got married“.
So what is a date night/afternoon/day or just a plain simple date? A date with my husband is time set aside to just focus on each other. To have a real conversation without our focus shifting to the kids. It is a time to connect on all levels and basically just enjoy each others presence and company.
When is it not a date night? Well you can’t really classify a night out with friends as a date night, because you end up having laughs with your girlfriends and he spends time with the guys.
Date nights or whatever you may call it, shouldn’t be expensive or elaborate. It can be a simple dinner for two at a restaurant – an afternoon coffee date at coffee shop – a movie – going out and do some wine tasting – it can be jogging together or going for a power walk together – or even just time spent at home alone without the kids. There are so many great ideas of things that you can do together.
This section of my blog will feature things that my husband and I do together.
Fashion and Beauty
This section of my blog is about Fashion and Beauty.
With regards to Fashion, my personal style it classic yet modern. I do not follow trends. To me trends come and go but classic is timeless. Having classic pieces in my wardrobe allows me to create a multitude of outfits by mixing and matching items for various occasions. Clothing is generally expensive and having classic items that you can wear for years is fantastic.
Beauty to me is taking care of your inner and outer appearances. It is really about what you are comfortable with and what you define as beauty. Although, I am not big on wearing makeup, I always make sure I apply a little when I go out. I love looking natural and therefore I do not apply a lot of make up to my face. Beauty also covers hair care, spa treatments and procedures.
So I hope you enjoy my posts and I hope that my little contribution can make a difference.
