The Really Honest Mom

No one can accurately explain that awful time in life when your child begins the process of getting teeth. Or maybe that's just me and my child. Some people have easy teethers. Wow - that concept is as far away from me as lying on a perfect fine white sand, coconut palm tree, clear blue water Caribbean beach, complete with pina colada in hand. Very very far away. This process in our house has consisted of a lot of midnight screaming, drooling, chewing, licking, biting, shouting and general intense sadness. Nevaeh is not a good teether. And on top of it all, the teeth she has cut are very squew. Poor kid. The combined gene pool of me and Sid is just not a winner in this department. Our teeth are vaguely straight now, but that's due to years of orthodontic visits. Shout out to anyone who endured ulcers, elastics and that special wax... Back to the process known commonly as "teething". What people don't tell you is that it can resemble the tribulation.  I have ...

Thank you, Medical Aid, we are painfully aware that our "funds are depleted". I have to be honest, I wonder if the people who set up medical aid package options know what doctors cost, what medication costs, and how much small people cost to keep alive. Maybe you're one of those super blessed people whose kids have never done anything but a polite little sneeze once in their lifetime. Or maybe, like me, you have a child that's been rushed to hospital on more occasions than you'd like to admit, has to be on reflux medication daily, and has an intense disdain for "fruit flavored medicinal syrups" which results in explosive projectile vomiting that would give North Korea a run for its money. I suspect that whoever the taster guy is for pharmaceutical companies has no functional taste buds, because I have tasted all of the syrups my offspring has, and I can assure you that Buscopan does not taste like banana. Not at all. Not even vaguely reminiscent of any...

My friend Sarah-Dawn sent me a tweet by someone that said, "People are like, 'It takes a village to raise a child' and I'm like ,'Can you give me the address for that village?' Cos I could really use the help." I cannot adequately express how true this statement is, especially nowadays when living in isolation is becoming the norm . Parents need help. Before I had a child, I had so many opinions. I was going to have a picture perfect pregnancy, complete with pregnancy gym classes (laughs hysterically); I was going to birth a perfect baby that slept for 12 hours in a row and had the digestive system of a teenager; I was going to keep my house spotlessly clean and have dinner ready for my husband every night as he returned from work (this thought alone was lunacy as my culinary skills extend to making great toast); I was going to attend all the mom and baby groups and be a beacon of health and happiness. WRONG! If you've read my first few blog posts, y...

You know those little quirks your small people have? Those ones that make you feel like opening up a spray bottle of whipped cream and a jar of Nutella to see which of them could win the slide down your throat contest? Yes, those quirks. I have learnt, much to my chagrin, that those are my fault. It's genetic. I look at my daughter's distraught face and ensuing "I am very very very sad at you" tap dance, and tell her that she needs to be patient. Then I hear myself. In the midst of my, "Nevaeh, this is your Adamic nature coming out in full force" pep talk I have a quick mental flash of myself driving... And by that I mean pronouncing gloom and doom upon other drivers who frustrate me. "Patient" is definitely not a word that would be used to describe my temperament. I am somewhat ashamed to admit this, but I am inserting a copy of an actual text I sent out to some of my friends at midnight when I was immensely frustrated with a company called Envi...

A friend of mine once said, "Any home with a child under the age of 3 is in a constant state of crisis." My my, how true those words are. Today has been one of those really special days. The sort of days that make you wonder what you did wrong in order to deserve such an angry toddler. I have been shouted at by mine all day. I have tried desperately to feed it - I lost that battle. I have tried to keep it clean - I lost that battle too. In the end, her father managed to bath AND wash her hair without screams emerging from our small dictator akin to that of a herd of pigs being slaughtered. Every day is a new one, filled with many unknowns. Will the child eat toast with melrose cheese today, or is today an anti-toast day? Will yoghurt be imbibed or shunned today? No one knows. Every 24 hours holds in its hands a new adventure in the art of war, known in our household as “mealtime". I envy those mothers who have offspring that simply eat whatever they are given. It is a ...