TheBleghHousewife

I walked into the indoor play area, sat down and ordered myself a milkshake while I encouraged my little man to go and play. My friend,who I was supposed to meet, couldn't make it because kids, pregnancy and life, so I decided to make the best of it and just hang out with my little guy and play with him. It took him a while to warm up to the situation and overall setting, but once he did he just wanted to play, and play and play! He spotted two little girls roughly the same age as him and he immediately made a beeline towards them (we're talking about 1 year olds here). I followed him cautiously, trying not to be a helicopter mom, but also wanting to make sure that they played nice. By the time he got there, the moms of these two little girls went quiet. I asked how old the girls were, I tried to make small talk as our kids started to get closer to one another, and before they were in touching distance these moms stood up and swooped their children away from my son and m...

Sigh. This is such an easy trap to fall into. You meet up with some of your mom friends and notice that their little one's may be able to do something that your little one can't. And there it is. Such a minuscule thing, and yet it affects you (or at least me). "Am I not stimulating him enough?" "Why is he behind?" "How do I get him to do that specific thing?" "Why isn't he crawling?" And so the self doubt goes on, and simultaneously you (often unintentionally) become a competitive mom. It doesn't have to be innately stressed or said, but it's the internal turmoil that notifies you that yes, you may be going slightly crazy. I mean, at the end of the day what does it matter? Children develop at different rates. They acquire different skill sets, and because they are individuals, these skill sets may differ in terms of what they choose to conquer first. So while my little one is not able to do X yet, he's able t...

Motherhood is scary. Motherhood in South Africa can be terrifying. Now, ain't that the truth. I adore my little man with my whole heart, but in many ways having him has made me an easy target when it comes to crime. Mom's are easy targets. It's that simple. I mean when it comes down to it, your focus and attention is on your child(ren). Here's a simple example: The other day I was in a grocery store, I had my little munchkin sitting in the chair part of the trolley/shopping cart (with a cart cover - he's loving this experience, I might add). At the end of my manic shopping spree (because I know that he's only going to be calm, relaxed and giggly for so long before he loses his mind and wants to be picked up). I followed the snake-like queue waiting patiently to reach the front and be called to a check-out counter. The entire time I was moving slowly with the queue I was singing and playing with my baby in order to keep him distracted, two women (what ap...