Monday, February 22, 2010

Don't forget the lyrics!

I love music, but sometimes I'm more drawn to the beat and don't really pay much attention to the lyrics. Well I can't say the same for Bilaal! One morning on the way to school, the highveld breakfast team were talking about the rumours that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie broke up. Bilaal was asking me how people can 'break up'. So I found myself explaining the complexities of adult relationships to my 5 year old!

So anyway the other day the Rhianna and Neyo song was on in the car and the lyrics goes, "I hate that I love you so..." So of course curious Bilaal asked his dad "why does she say that she hate that she love him?" So Yaasier tried to explain to him that sometimes when adults don't get along anymore they may decide not to live together anymore and so they don't want to love each other because it makes them sad to be apart. To which Bilaal replied, "Oh so you mean like they break up?" Previous conversation unbeknown to Yaasier, he was so taken aback he asked Bilaal "what do you know about breaking up?"

Of course this was not the only time Bilaal was confused about the lyrics of a song. There's that 'sweet dream' song by Beyonce, where Bilaal wanted to know "how can you have a beautiful nightmare?" He actually found the whole concept very disturbing.

But one song we try to avoid in his presence is 'Bed' by ... well I don't know the artists name, but basically it's an R'nB song about taking the woman to bed and well yeah...The lyrics aren't lewd or anything, he was about 3 when he first heard the song, and would sing it out loud when it came on the radio. And he would ask all kinds of questions about why the man wanted to take the lady to bed, etc. Of course we covered by saying she was tired and he wanted he to go to sleep!

Then there's that song by Sean Kingston.. Beautiful Girls where he sings, "they drive me suicidal..." that used to play the airwaves all the time when it was first released. Way too heavy a subject to engage with a 3 year old!.

Now the worst is actually not due to lyrics of a song, but rather a BBC Entertainment channel trailer for one of their sitcoms. It's clearly not a sitcom for kiddies, yet they use the worst one-liners in their trailers and then air it in the middle of the day! For example one character says to the other something about paying for sex! And of course curious Bilaal asked, what's paying for sex? Whenever that word falls upon his ears we always convince him that he actually heard the word 'six' not 'sex'! So clearly the man was paying for six of something right? I'm just not ready for the whole birds and bees discussion just yet! But the most classic was when he cottoned onto the word 'Fock!' We expertly brainwashed him into substituting the word for the word 'Fox' and he never asked what it meant again, cos as far as he's concerned its that brown pointy eared animal that used to cry outside our window when we lived in London.

There are so many more examples, but I just can't remember all of them now, will update when I do :D

Friday, February 19, 2010

Thanks to Rock Mom for my 2 awards!

When you enter the world of blogging, you really put yourself out there. You share publicly your joys, your thoughts, your fears, your hopes and dreams. So comments are realllllly appreciated and remiinds you that someone out there is actually interested in what YOU have to say. So how special didn't I feel when fellow blogger Rock Mom chose ME to pass on not only 1 but 2 awards. Thanks Rock Mom, i feel special. Now the one award has no rules, while the other does, so I am going to combine the 2 into one post. Here is the first one:
The next award is the one with rules which are as follows:
1) thank the person who nominated me for this award
2) copy the award & place it on my blog
3) link to the person who nominated me for this award
4) share 7 interesting things about myself
5) nominate 7 bloggers
6) post links to the 7 blogs i nominate

So even though I've done 1 and 3 already, I think she deserves another big THANKS :)
(love your layout by the way)




7 interesting fact about myself...mmm...
1) At the age of 29, I still can't ride a bike properly! I can ride in a straight line, but don't aske me to turn!
2) I learned to drive with a VW Microbus. Being a shorty it was awsome because it made me feel tall :)
3) My husband and I dated for 3 years and on 22 December 2009 we celebrated our 8th anniversary
4) I love making home movies with the whole editing with effects and music and stuff (although I have neglected this hobby somewhat the past 2 years:( ) There's a sample of one of my projects in an earlier post)
5) I hate going to the hairdresser, I find it most boring.
6) I have moved house 7 times in my lifetime
7) I have an article published in the Journal of Occupational Science titled "Occupation, Identity and Choice: A dynamic interaction"

And the nominees are:
7) Rock Mom (of course!)

Now I knw some of these nominees have already been nominated by Rock Mom, but I had to go with the ones I follow regularly. Thanks to you all for a great read :) Enjoy your award!

Love Me!

 




Monday, February 15, 2010

First the one then the other!

So just when Bilaal was feeling better from the tonsilitis, Sumayah started with a fever! It started on Friday afternoon, but the fever was quite mild and she was pretty much her usual self, maybe only just a little lethargic, but not to the extent that she couldn't stay awake. She was still eating normally, shouting normally, playing normally. So I put it down to teething. But then Friday night her fever just spiked to 39 degrees! When neurofen, sponging, nakedness and the fan didn't bring the temperature down I started to worry. Her behaviour was pretty much still the same, but on Saturday morning I thought she bit too big a piece of apple and I was trying to fish it out of her mouth, she cried of course and that's when I noticed little white spots at the back of her throat. So off the doctor with us. After examining her the doctor said that Sumayah must have a really high pain threshold because she actually has really bad strep throat and the doctor was really surprised that Sumayah was still eating normally! What can I say the girl loves her food! So was I advised that from now on at the first sign of even illness i should rather take Sumayah to the doctor because she may be the kind of child that won't show any signs of distress even when it's something serious! The doctor really didn't want to give her antibiotics, but there wasn't an alternative. Bilaal finishes his course today and Sumayah finishes hers on Wednesday. But guess what I feel like i'm coming down with something too! NO!!! I refuse! I'm gonna pump myself with vitamins and tissue salts and hope to avoid the nasties in the air. Wish me luck.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Tonsilitis Monsterlitis

On Tuesday I got a call from Bilaal's teacher saying that she has a very sad boy with her who says he's eyes are burning and he is not feeling well. So I fetched him from school. He didn't have a fever or any cold or flu symptoms, but he did say that it felt like "there are speedbumps in my throat".

My immediate reaction was that he was probably coming down with a throat infection so I gave him a medicated fruit lolly and straight to bed. Now the strange thing is he was already on an antibiotic because the previous week he had an insect bite on his leg that became infected - cellulitis! Needless to say this didn't stop the nasties in the air! He slept nicely and still seemed ok, just tired when suddenly at about 5pm he's temperature spiked to 39 degrees and started crying bitterly that he's throat was burning. I quickly phoned the doctor who prescribed his antibiotics last week. Of course all the doctors rooms were closed already,so she advised that I just try to bring the temp down and monitor him through the night and if he didn't improve to bring him in the next morning.

What a long night. He just got worse and the temp just wouldn't come down. He was medicated, i gave him a sponge bath, I slept in his bed for most of the night with a damp cloth and a fan on, I even tried homeopathic stuff... nothing. Of course it didn't help that Sumayah kept waking up too so I was like a yo-yo between the two rooms all night. The very next morning I took him to the doctor and what do you know... those 'speedbumps' in his throat couldn't be a more apt description for Tonsilitits!

So my poor baby has been pretty much miserable with his throat speedbumps. Every so now and again he would just suddenly cry out in pain when he's throat suddenly burns. Anyone with kids I would recommend you get 'Viral Forte' throat lollies, they really do help with sore throats and yet appealing to the kids.

Monday, February 8, 2010

The birthday was a huge success!

Bilaal's birthday part which caused me great stress is done and dusted and he had a fabulous time! Everything went off well and we were even on time! We are notorious for always being late, particularly when it involved early mornings. So seeing as Bilaal's party was from 9am on a saturday...! I know what were we thinking right? Well actually most people actually prefer a morning party because then they still have the rest of their sat to go to the shops etc.

But anyway, we hired a venue but everything else was pretty much do-it-yourself. I made chocolate cake, carrot cake, eclairs, cupcakes and of course the birthday cake. Because th place was called fantasy park and had a castle maze and fort climbing frame, i decided to go for a 'knights and fair maidens' theme. So I made a castle cake. It's amazing what help you can find on the internet! I looked at a few examples, took note of a few tips and voila!


I prayed all week for good weather and what a relief when we had such glorious sunshine. The kids really had a ball and Bilaal said it was the best birthday ever! But i have to say next year I am not going through the stress again. I already decided next year he can invite 2 or 3 of his friends for a movie and mcdonalds!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

5 Years Already?

'Tis the eve of the 5th year of my boy's life. I can't believe it's been 5 years already! For a long time now I have felt that my baby boy is no longer a baby, but a big boy. I can't help reminiscing about that most memorable day of his birth. It's a story I always enjoy recalling. So in honor of Bilaal's birthday and seeing as it is going to be 'Wordless Wednesday' , tomorrow I am going to post an edited version of a home video I made of the beautiful time of his birth.