Browsing Category: Rambling

My Mother’s Day established a new Mother’s Day tradition

Mother's Day Tradition

I had a seriously eye-opening Mother’s Day. It was intense and emotional, but also pretty transformational – what I did first thing in the morning on a day all about celebrating moms is definitely going to become a Mother’s Day tradition for me. But first, let me back up and tell you how it all came to be.

You see, I was approached for the Cape Town Embrace campaign, and I wrote about it a few weeks back. I wrote all about how even with all the love, support and help that I had as a new mom, it was still so daunting, so scary. And I encouraged all of you to take part in this idea of visiting moms on Mother’s Day. We’d reach out and encourage them, make their day a little brighter and generally just welcome them to the mom tribe. But there was one problem. I had no idea which hospital I’d be going to or what it would be like. So I felt like a total hypocrite, telling everyone to do this and not even sure how I would manage to do it. Well, the amazing Sharon from The Blessed Barrenness stepped up and organized for us to visit Charlotte Maxeke hospital on Sunday morning, and I was blown away. Continue Reading

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Comment Parenting, Preeclampsia, Rambling, South Africa

I’m going to start making videos

videos

I love this little place on the internet. This blog is my corner where I can share whatever I’m going through. Part chronicle, part journal, part opportunity to vent, I love being able to write posts and share what’s going on with all of you. Even better is when some of you take the time to reply, to comment or tweet or leave a Facebook response to whatever I’m going through. While part of blogging is incredibly narcissistic – you know, that whole thing about assuming that my story/life will be interesting to other people – the other part is really outward facing. It’s the community of readers and lurkers who help make me feel less alone on this journey, and I adore every single person who pauses on my site to read my words. But one of my goals this year was to connect more with people, in my private life, and on my blog, and I think the best way to push that forward is with videos.

Before anyone worries, fear not! This doesn’t mean that I will stop writing words or sharing my thoughts here. I am committed to this blog, to writing. I just think that video will give me a chance to share things differently, to give more of a behind-the-scenes glimpse into my life, and open up another channel for you all to respond, engage and interact with me. I really want to connect, and I’m hoping this will help with that. Continue Reading

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3 Comments Rambling

Our Cape Town holiday was one of my best vacations

Cape Town

Dean and I just got back from the most amazing trip to Cape Town. It was all part of my grand plan. I figured that before we emigrate, I should see Cape Town, especially seeing as everyone raves about it as their favorite city in South Africa. In fact, before I ever met Dean, I was planning to do a trip around the world and the only city I really wanted to visit in South Africa was Cape Town. In the almost ten years I’ve lived here, I’ve visited most of the urban centers and national parks, but had missed out on the Mother City… until now. And wow, what a trip!

There are so many things that made this a fantastic holiday. We saw incredible sites, tasted so much deliciousness, saw people we love and also simply reveled in each other’s company. It was everything a vacation should be, and definitely a destination that I would love to revisit in the future. For sure when we come back to South Africa when Harley (and maybe one day, baby #2) is older to visit, I’d want to return to Cape Town. I really tried hard to chronical this trip more than usual – friends always laugh at me and Dean because we will go places and come home without a single picture. So I tried my best to take more pictures – I don’t think any of them will do our trip justice, though. Continue Reading

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9 Comments Rambling, South Africa

Everyone should watch these sexual harassment PSAs

sexual harassment

Public Service Announcements (or PSAs) are strange things. Some of them have been so tone deaf over the years, using weird imagery and language while trying to push kids to just say no to drugs or avoid the perils of teen sex. I still remember a PSA I saw as a kid about someone stealing condoms because they were too shy to buy them, with the messaging that if you aren’t mature enough to buy condoms, you aren’t mature enough to cope with the reality of sex. This latest batch of PSAs deal with sexual harassment, and they hit a little too close to home for me.

So often, sexual harassment and assault is depicted as strangers jumping out of bushes to flash people, or gross lecherous men groping teenagers on the subway. The reality of sexual harassment is much more nuanced. It’s usually from someone you know, perhaps in the workplace or from someone in a position of power. It is still harassment, and in a way even more insidious. David Schwimmer helped produce these new PSAs and they are well written, acted and filmed, and showcase some real star power as well. Here are a few that resonated with me. Continue Reading

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Comment Rambling

Mom guilt is real and can strike at any time

mom guilt

I’ve seen so much about mom guilt, and while I can laugh at the cartoons about it or joke about how it’s a lose-lose situation for women, in the moment it can still feel crippling. I’d define it as the duality of motherhood – on the one hand you love your child and want to do any and everything for them, and on the other hand you also want to be a person and still feel like your own human being. This can be compounded if you also work, adding the dimension of feeling like a terrible employee whenever you devote time to your kid and vice versa. And I felt it acutely on Monday night.

Thanks to Harley being sick and staying home from school for a few days, I’d spent a lot of time with her lately. I mean, I always spend a lot of time with her, obviously, but even more so thanks to her having been sick. It was wonderful to know how much she loves me, that she feels safe with me and just wanted to be close to me all day every day while she was ill. Of course, that also meant that I was tired and worn out and seriously struggling to get my work done. Continue Reading

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3 Comments Parenting, Rambling