Family dreaming

February 3, 2010 in Family, General by Tam | No comments

Like most things in life, planing ahead is vital for success; so why do we ignore this most important action of our personal development?’

Here’s some advice I recieved on the radio, that gave me a ‘wake-up’ call when it came to planning for my family:

Whether we are stay at home or working mums, we have the same roles to play when it comes to planning. For some bizarre reason, we thought planning was our spouses role!

So why, you may ask, should this be our role to own? We posses a powerful tool – intuition. Some have it stronger than others, but the key is to develop this skill, to enhance our planning with facts and with our feelings. *Shew* Not something you would see on a motivational poster in a conventional boardroom!

We also possess the gift of intricate detail; which enables refining and clarity. Here are 5 basic areas where focus is needed.

  1. Financial
  2. Recreational activities, and holidays
  3. House keeping
  4. Dietry requirements
  5. Time: quality and quiet time

The above seems like a “mother load” but I assure you, the key to success is delegation!

Here are some tips to assist you off the starting block.

CLARIFY: What ever your current situation, put it down on paper, this gives a realistic overview of your situation.

DREAM: What is the vision for you and your family? ask each member to have a turn. Your daughter may aspire to be a singer & dancer and you may want to purchase your own estate in the next 3-5 years, so you can create a sanctuary for your family.

BRAINSTORM: There is a lovely book “6 thinking hats‘ by: Edward de Bono, which teaches you to tune in on different ways of thinking. This can help overcome fears or doubt in your plans for your family dream. No matter how big or small your idea is, create a more creative atmosphere, improve communication and train family members to use a clearer way of thinking

KEEP A SCRAP BOOK: Scrap pictures and ideas relating to your dream, when you feel despondent, glance through it, to remind yourself. Over time, you can also reference your scrap book see how you have achieved your dreams. Document it with a note to yourself, on how long vs. ‘how long you thought it would take’ to achieve your family dreams!

Pass on your skills, like an old family recipe to your loved ones, so they too can live out their dreams!

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Stepping on Eggshells

October 10, 2009 in Fathers Log by admin | 2 comments

Fathers Log
Dads Date 10.10.2009
ETA: 2 months and 18 days

Before I get started on this article, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Nick Duncan and I am soon to be a father of what I know is going to be a little baby boy named Logan that will forever change my life. I wanted to write an online diary in the hopes of giving other future fathers out there some advice on my ongoing experiences (and/or inexperience’s). Right, lets get to it shall we?

I have entered the realm of “no mans land” and there’s no way of steering this ship back to safety, for the meantime that is (I hope). It seems no matter what I do lately, I’m an inconceivable, non-understanding, insensitive idiot! I just got to suck it up and take it like a man, as they say. After all, there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, isn’t there?

I’m starting to understand the definition of “hormonal”. Although it can be somewhat unpleasant at times, and I say that in the nicest possible way, I am learning to cope with these imbalances in our day to day life. It is important to remember the love for each other in these times as the situation can spiral completely out of control for the most pathetic of arguments.

I never thought this would happen to me, but when I bought roses a few days back for the better half, I was accused of feeling guilty about something and this was the reason for the purchase of the roses. I was completely dumbstruck and soon began ranting my own slurs of anger and before we knew it, all hell broke lose and the roses seemed to have taken flight in the midst of our epic battle.

The point I’m really trying to get across here, and I’m struggling like hell to word this correctly, but in these last precious moments of pregnancy it is important to understand what each other is going through and to be sensitive to each others needs. Trust me, they really don’t mean to be mean, It’s the hormones talking, not the heart! So the next time you feel the urge to strongly put your point across, just remember what she is going through with having to carry your baby around 24-seven, constant back-aches, and other changes in her body that we don’t even know about!

Until next time, good luck in “no mans land” and remember to nod and smile!

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Hobbies for Moms

September 20, 2009 in General, hobbies by admin | 1 comment

Moms these days are more stressed than ever and a great way to relieve stress is by having at least one hobby. By keeping yourself busy with a hobby, you’re not only giving your body and mind a vacation from constant stress but also from your megalomaniac husbands! We are constantly trying to get our kids to get involved in extra-mural activities but we often forget about ourselves. Let’s take a look at some of these hobbies to get you back on track to being a stress-free mom and at the same time, giving you plenty of enjoyment!

Scrap Booking

Scrap Booking
It seems as if no one scrap books these days, but I find it to be a fun and rewarding hobby. Its not that expensive, and by scrap booking your photo’s, your kids get a special feeling while watching mommy make their photo’s stand out on a pretty page for all to see!

Here are some great scrap booking websites:

Soap Making

Making Soap

Making soap can be a relaxing way to keep yourself busy. This hobby doesn’t really require any skills to make, unless you feel like getting really complicated! You should be able to find most of the tools you require in your kitchen, but bear in mind you will not be able to use them for food preparation/cooking again.

Some great soap making sources:

  • Woman24 – Soap-making made simple – A great article on the different types of soaps you can make including the items you need.
  • Teachsoap – A huge website. This website has everything you need to learn on how to create your very own soap!

Candle Making

Candle Making

This is pretty similar to making soap. Its a wonderful hobby and very simple to do. You don’t require any real skill and it is really fun making candles for your house, or for those special romantic occasions at home!

Here are some great resources to candle making:

Photography
This has got to be one of my favourite hobbies! All you need is a quality camera and you can be set to start taking pictures of your loved ones or things that interest you. If you are at all good at this, you can consider selling your pictures to online stock photography websites. Consider taking a course in photography to boost these skills and you never know, this might just be a business opportunity for your near future!

Here are some websites that offer photography courses:

Writing
Writing can be a fun hobby. Putting thoughts on paper can be a great way to release stress and encourage imagination while increasing your vocabulary at the same time. Take the time to start a blog, write children’s stories or even start a journal. There are more forms of writing, all of which are a great way to spend some time with yourself.

If you can think of any other great hobbies for moms, please list them below in the comments!

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Lola Park

August 24, 2009 in Business by admin | No comments

In the interest of keeping all mom’s (and dads) irritation free, I have taken the liberty of posting this article to keep you informed.

It seems as if Lola Park seems to be having trouble with their website lately. Up, down, up, down and still down. To keep you mom’s happy, here is the contact information for Lola Park in Boksburg:

Address:
Viewpoint Road East
Bartlett
Boksburg

Tel: 0861 111 LOLA

For more information about Lola Park while the website is down, visit KiddiesCorner Online Directory

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Great Creches in Johannesburg

August 15, 2009 in Business by admin | No comments

From time to time I would like to take the oppurtunity to list a few companies that are worth mentioning. Below you can find some of the great creches that are in the Johannesburg area.

For more creches in Johannesburg, be sure to click here

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Sex Offenders Registry

August 14, 2009 in Safety by admin | 4 comments

Sex offenders now need to crawl back into the holes they once came out of. It was announced that any person with a conviction of a sex crime, would now be searchable by schools and institutions. Which brings to mind, why only schools and institutions? Why not make the registry public knowledge? Look, don’t get me wrong here, I think it’s high-time that this information became available – and the best place to start would be the schools!

With sex offences on the rise in South Africa, and with South Africa having the highest rape statistics of 117 cases per 100 000 people in 2007, and the latest stats report that 20 000 children get raped every year. Surely every parent in the country would like to get there hands on this list. Who knows where these low-lifes are slithering around, they could be down the road!

Im not sure how government is going to proceed with this, but in the UK, this information is not made accessible to citizens whereby in the US, some states go so far as to put these names on the internet for all to see.

As a mother, I would really like government to use initiative and set up a website where we all can search by location.

Please let me know what your thoughts are on this.  I would really like to hear from you.

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Child Safety

August 8, 2009 in Safety by admin | No comments

As a mom, I know all about child safety. The worries and stresses of parenthood can become overwhelming at some stages, but I still believe it’s absolutely worth it. With that said, let me show you something that can take a bit of those worries and replace them with a more relaxed feeling.

Enter 4 a Kid, a unique business offering child safety products of a unique caliber. Apart from their great website, 4 a Kid’s latest products should really become mommies best friend.  Their latest feature is called the “Mommy I’m Here Alert” which consists of a small key chain transmitter and a teddy bear-shaped receiver which mounts easily onto your child’s shoe or wristband. If your child goes wondering for more than 8 metres away, a beep will go off alerting you that your child is now getting to far away from mommy! With this new device, you will be able to find your child from up to 50 metres away. It also comes in stylish pink or blue!

Another great product from 4 a Kid is the “The On-Guard Kid’s Personal Safety Watch”. See what 4 a Kid has to say about this product.

Empower and educate your child to be safe and secure with On Guard, the only personal safety alert system especially designed for a kid’s lifestyle. OnGuard combines a cool looking digital watch, with fun accessories, a piercing 110 decibel emergency alarm and an educational DVD that teaches your child how to use the watch to stay safe everyday. In the event of an emergency, your child can easily activate a very loud high-decibel alarm that instantly let’s everyone in the area know that they need help

If you know of any more great child safety products, please let me know so I can let all the other mommies know about it!

baby clothing
kids clothing
music lessons
antenatal classes

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Welcome to Kiddies Corner – For kids on the move!

August 8, 2009 in Parents by admin | No comments

Welcome to Kiddies Corner’s Blog. I have been meaning to get this up and running for quite some time now, and finally it is done! I wish to convey my thoughts and opinions on a vast variety of topics to keep you, the mommy and daddy, updated with the latest information on parenthood and “kiddiehood” alike. Keep in mind that the original Kiddies Corner Kids Business Directory is still up and running.

Within the coming weeks you can expect to find some really interesting information right here at your fingertips! So when you get a chance to sit back and relax with a cup of coffee or tea during the week, make sure to spend that time here to give you ideas on how to enrich your family life.

I will be adding a newsletter function soon enough and I also welcome any comments and suggestions which can be mailed directly to me

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