Raising a child in the 21st century is not easy. Especially with the constant demands that society place on us. Falling into the entitlement trap can happen so easily. Perhaps you have been oblivious to the fact that you are already in that trap and didn’t see it coming.
As you read the following points listed, think about whether one or even more of these are familiar to you.
There is no greater love than that of a mother to her child or children. Now this might sound cheesy and like an old cliché but you do know that the best Mother’s Day gift I received was the day the two of you were born.
With Mother’s Day a couple of days away, I’m sure that you are stressing about what to get me. Or should I say you are hounding your father to come up with a plan and be your financial resource. The latter I don’t mind but this needs to come from the two of you. As I did not birth your father and I am by no means his mother. By the way, he is just as clueless when it comes to knowing exactly what I want.
It’s about 14h00 on Saturday afternoon as my husband and I walk into the supermarket to get some much needed items. We see a mom with 3 kids as we enter the store. Looking at their size, I’m of the opinion that the kids could be all under the age of 5. With the youngest sitting in the trolley. The mom squats down to the level of the two older ones, indicating to them to behave. Her tone is calm and she looks relaxed.
Whilst in the shop, I spot the mom and her three kids again, this time in the toiletries aisle. The youngest is having a meltdown and the other two is acting out. Kicking each other, shouting and running about. Once again she gathers them and instructs them to behave.
This time she looks a bit flustered but still seems calm. Flustered because of the embarrassment she felt at that particular moment as people started staring and scrutinizing her ability to handle the situation.
Unless you had a colicky baby, it is something that those parents who have not experienced it won’t understand. An experience that I wish on no parent, especially a first time mom.
Experiencing motherhood for the second time, had to be a breeze. Or so I thought. She was a full term baby, healthy and breastfed. This was completely opposite to our first birthing experience.
Remembering our first experience with colic 8 years ago. When our second daughter, Mika, developed it at 4 weeks old. Crying non-stop from 18h00 – 22h00 at night. Colic was something unforeseen as we didn’t go through it with our first daughter. Creeping up on us out of the blue. It was a predictable scene that played off in front of us every single night.
It’s mid-January and you are yet to recover financially from the festive season. Plus with children returning to school last week, the costs of stationery, school uniform and school fees are adding up. If your child has just started Grade R or Grade 1; you probably did not expect the escalating cost of sending your child to school.
Apart from the school fees, the most expensive item is probably the school uniform. The annual rising costs of school uniforms in South Africa are putting additional financial pressure on parents to fork out more money to fit out their children.
It will probably set you back over R3500 if not more to fit your child out in the full school uniform, including school shoes and sportswear.
