Putting our kids on a routine

So, we’ve never really been a strict routine family……I think I’m actually scared of routines, I feel like they will stifle the life out of me, and make me boring (haha)….but honestly I think it’s just my personality, I wanna rebel against anything that is set; the moment someone tells me something must not be done, that gives me the motivation to do it 😄……I just like the freedom of doing whatever, whenever I want to. It worked with having one (easy) child, my schedule was still pretty much flexible…..of course certain things like naps and meals were fixed or predictable but the rest of the time, we were all just living our lives……and it worked…….until…..now 😐
Having two kids has changed a lot, especially two small ones who are two years apart……my days are so hectic, now I am on my knees crying out to the god of routines 😭😄

So, tonight we started with ‘The Routine’ *dramatic music*………So, during the day, we kinda have something good going……meal times, nap times, educational time, play time, etc…..evening time is the circus around here, so that’s what we’re mainly trying to change. We’ve been co-sleeping with 1 year old H till now (☺️yeah, I know….but it’s sooo convenient because he’s breastfeeding) and 3 year old K was sleeping on her own until she decided she had had enough (so we were waiting until she fell asleep to put her in her bed but if she woke up randomly during the night she’d come join the party)…..so yeah, now you can see what I mean by ‘circus’ right?

So, I’m documenting day by day how the big challenge goes.
Disclaimer: This is not a “How To” and I’m not professing to know what I’m doing 😄….. I’ll just be documenting how my attempt goes 😄…..if you have any thoughts/advice/something that has worked for you, please feel free to comment 🙂

On Discipline

One of the things I really enjoy about Langa when it comes to disciplining our young ones is that he is faithfully on my side. My husband and daughter are super close, so whenever I have a ‘discipline encounter’ (lol!) with her (we haven’t quite gotten there with Hubo yet), she’ll run to him for comfort, but he faithfully sends her back packing to apologise, correct her behaviour, do what I’m instructing her to do, etc. It’s great because I always feel supported, it makes me feel like less of a monster 😐 and it leaves no room for the ‘soft parent’ 😄 (although I do think in Kumi’s eyes I’m the tough parent, even though Langa will argue that I’m soft 😄)

We good at settling…

On contentment. This is a blog written by a friend of mine. If I had to write something on contentment, it would be so close to what she’s saying, as I share the same experience and values.

Rudimental Truths

Day in and day out our minds seem to be bombarded with all the things we think we desire to have, all the things other people seem to have and all the things that get you believing that your life is less fulfilling. We then quickly find solutions to fill the gap, between what they have and what we don’t have. We either justify getting into debt to acquire these things, those who can actually afford them go out and buy more things they could really live without and some just go into a state of depression and accumulate all these bad habits for things they think they need. Contentment is one thing we seem to lack as a society.

I have genuinely been bothered by this and as I have been working on getting my values and priorities in order, I have decided the few things in life I…

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New Shoes :)

Our first son, Hubo, just turned one last week and he’s been learning to walk on his own for the past few weeks. He was gaining ground, but now I bought him shoes, (he’s been in socks all along) his newest challenge is walking in the shoes….it’s literally taken him one step back. Poor baby, wish it was summer and he didn’t have to wear shoes but he’ll be strong 😄

It got me thinking about how Christianity is like a baby learning to walk in shoes. When we first encounter Christ, His Word, values, principles, etc, all of it seems so foreign because we’ve been walking barefoot all our lives. We are excited at the idea of these new shoes, but it’s a bit of a challenge letting go of our old ways, and getting used to these shoes. Over time, though, as we put them on everyday, we start to get the hang of it.

I was actually tempted to just let Hubo just continue with his socks vibe because it wasn’t nice to see him struggling, he just wasn’t confident with these shoes…..he’d get up, try to take a step, realise there’s something foreign on his feet…and simply resort to the familiar….crawl 😄. But I figured, at some point he’ll need to learn to walk in shoes.
So today (after a few days of trying) he started taking proper steps in the shoes, was so excited for him!! We’re getting there!
With following Christ as well, as we put the shoes on everyday, we get used to it, until we do it subconsciously. And thing is, some people may think it just happens but it’s a process and journey of Choosing to put the shoes on every single day…..choosing to love, choosing to forgive, choosing to say no to temptations, choosing to put your faith in Him, etc all the time until it becomes a lifestyle. It’s all about the choices you make, whether you realise you are making the choice or not. And, what I like about God is that there’s so much freedom that you can also choose not to put the shoes on on a certain morning and He won’t strike you down….. There have been days when I’ve been so caught up with stuff or whatever that I realise by my actions or my thoughts that I don’t have my shoes on, and I have to run back home and get them. It is also that easy to let them slip off…..or not be intentional about putting them on.

So we had fun walking around in the shoes. Each time, a few more steps…..each time a bit more confident. And even when he was a bit unstable, it was ok because I was just one step away waiting to catch him.
You see, I think that’s one thing we don’t get about Our Perfect Parent…..that He’s always there, waiting to catch us when we fall. Does that mean we won’t fall because He’s the Perfect Parent….no, it means He will catch us when we fall.
I feel like sometimes we think that God is that parent who wants us to just start walking…..while He stands a bit further on the sidelines watching, daring us not to fall…..far from! I don’t know how many times Hubo stumbled and fell today, even with all the confidence and progress…..but it didn’t matter….it wasn’t about how many times he fell but each time he fell, I was cheering him on to try again, because despite the falling I knew he was gonna get the shoes thing right.

“So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask Him” Matthew7:11 NLT

Amplified: “If you then, evil as you are, know how to give good (and) advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father Who is in Heaven (perfect as He is) give good (and) advantageous things to those who keep asking Him.

The Joys…..

So, today was one of those days I was really glad to be a stay at home mom 🙂 . The temperature in Jozi was 10 degrees haha! *hides*. Yeah, look, there are some benefits after all haha!
The three of us were cooped up in one room with a heater the whole day, and even though I don’t like us eating in the rooms, we had all meals in there…even dinner 😄. And to top it off, we didn’t even change out of our pyjamas…..was tempted to not bath 😄 but we did. It’s a good thing we’d just opened prezzies from Hubo’s birthday party over the weekend, so we had lots to keep us occupied 🙂

Hubo’s 1st birthday party :)

Glad that my first post coincides with a family milestone 🙂

I’ve been wanting to start this blog for ages, but you know how it goes.

Anyway, today we celebrated our second born’s first birthday……it was a wonderful day. We got to spend some time with some of the most special people in our lives, our friends. We’re so blessed to have such an amazing community of people, I mean, we have people whom we know love us dearly……and have gone to the ends of the world for us, from watching our babies when we need time together to coming through for us in financial difficulties to endless chats and laughs, I wouldn’t ask for better friends.

“It takes a village to raise a child”. I’d often heard that saying but only truly realized what it meant when I started having kids. Yes, we are our kids’ major influencers, but there are so many other people who add to who they are, and help shape their lives. One seemingly small but rather significant example is of something that has now become one of our favourite things to do with Kumi…….racing! (I know, you didn’t expect that hey?) This is something that Zlus taught her and she loves it, we’ll be walking in a mall and she’ll say “Mama, let’s do on your marks” I love it! She’s learnt her table manners from many a dinner at Child Haven, and learnt to sing “I woke up like this” from Keef haha!  Seemingly small things, but you get the idea.

Back to Hubo’s party…….I absolutely enjoy organising parties and such, I look forward to it every time. If we had more money, I’d probably do this more often.  We had it at one of these children’s parties venues, Kinglets and Queenies…..really great venue with jumping castles, trampolines, jungle gyms, tree houses, farm animals and all things that little people enjoy. I’m a very DIY person (plus we were on a tight budget), so we made the food and put up the decor.  I was trying not to have too much junk food, so for snacks we had some dried fruit (ok, and some kettle cooked chips that are hard to resist) and made some platters with crackers, olives, salami, cocktail viennas, tomatoes and cheese. And for the mains, we had a DIY burger with chicken and beef patties, lots of fillings like cheese, mushrooms, feta, avo, gherkins…..and then a variety of sauces.  Didn’t break the bank and it turned out quite well, I must say……my kinda party 🙂

 

ok, I’ll stop here for today haha!