You're invited to breakfast with Helen Zille

I've blogged about the work that Third Thursday does before - so this post is to get you excited to make a booking for our 2012 event: a fundraising breakfast with the one and only Helen Zille. Here's the important info, before I give you the background:

Date etc: 14 July 2012, at 7am sharp
Venue: The Hilton Hotel, Sandton
Cost: R250pp, including breakfast and beverages
To book: email Helen Pournara
Reason 1 why you should buy a ticket or a table-full of tickets to our event:
We don't let our speakers charge us for their time, and we don't keep any silly 'admin fees' - so every penny that we raise will go to the Mthimkhulu Stimulation Centre in Soweto. This centre is run by volunteers who provide a place of safety for underprivileged mentally handicapped chlidren, so that their parents can go to work safe in the knowledge that their children are being properly cared for. The Centre receives government grants, when the government remembers to pay them, but they depend heavily on the kindness of donors for their day to day needs.

The funds that we raise at the breakfast will be used to buy the Centre a wheelchair-friendly vehicle, so that the parents don't have to struggle with taxis to get their children to the school. We need R450 000 to do this - so every penny helps.

Reason 2 why you should buy a ticket or a table-full of tickets to our event:
There are so many people in South Africa that need help, in so many different ways. Sometimes it's difficult to know where to start - and it's the South African Way to want to muck in and help. If you don't know where you can make a difference - this is a good place to start - by supporting our drive (no pun intended) to equip the centre with a vehicle that will help so much. 

Reason 3 why you should buy a ticket or a table-full of tickets to our event: 
You get to eat a damn fine breakfast in one of Sandton's most beautiful hotels, while listening to one of the country's most iconic women speak about her life and experiences. No politics in sight.

And just for fun - a few "Did You Know" items about Ms Zille:
- She exposed the truth about Steve Biko's death in her role as journalist at the Rand Daily Mail.
- She speaks four languages.
- She attended Johannesburg's St Mary's School for Girls.
- She and her husband offered their home as a safe haven for political activists in the 1980s.
- She was arrested for being in the 'wrong area' in the early 1980s, and was given a suspended prison sentence.
- She was such a thorn in the side of the then government that she and her then-two-year-old son had to go into hiding.

Want to find out more? Book your ticket now!



Get up and do something about it - #TBDZA

I was going through my blog history (other people call it procrastination), and I came across this post , that I wrote nearly two years ago, about the Twitter Blanket Drive. In this post, I mentioned what I great idea it was, and how I'd love to meet the person behind it, one @MelanieMinnar.

Fast forward two years, and hey, look what's happened: not only did I meet Melanie, I met her at my son's school, where her son is in the same year, and our boys have become friends. And not only did she make a huge success of the inaugural Twitter Blanket Drive in 2010, she kept it going last year, and has gone biggerbetterfastermore in 2012, by making it a national campaign.

And all this, as a mom to two boys who works a full day as general manager for a busy Johannesburg agency. Respect, much? Huge.

So... here's the deal. Instead of sitting at home wailing about the people who are going to be suffering in the cold outside this winter, while you're wrapped in your blankets on top of your electric blanket, get yourself out to the shops and buy some blankets - Game has some for as little as R20 at the moment, but go wild - skip buying takeaways for dinner this weekend, and spend the money on making someone warm instead. Have a look in your cupboards to see if there are any blankets or warm clothes that you don't use any more, and set them aside too. And then have a look at the #TBDZA website to find a drop off point near you.

You'll find that there are venues across the country that are hosting 'Tweetups' on 26 May, but several of them, such as Higher Ground restaurant, will accept donations any time from now - and they'll give you a free coffee to say thank you for your efforts.

The donations will be distributed via several official charities, so you know that your kindness will be shared where it's needed the most.

So - two things:

1 Get up off your couch and do something about the plight of your fellow South Africans. It's not difficult, it's not expensive, and it's an opportunity to meet other people who care about their fellow citizens the future of our country.

2 Thank you, Melanie, for making this happen. You are proof that if you need something huge done, give it to a busy person! You and your network of friends and colleagues that have organised this are an inspiration to the rest of us. If everyone out there committed to doing something positive, even if it's just a fraction of the size of the #TBDZA, South Africa, and the world, would be a much better place.

Every mom needs a cheerleader

I wrote this for JoziKids:

Kerry Haggard is the mom of the two most beautiful boys that ever there were. She is also the blessed daughter of the most awesome mom that ever there was.

One of my favourite blogs is written by Lisa-Jo, a South African who lives in Washington in the US. She is of the firm opinion that every mom needs a cheerleader, and she’s just published “The Cheerleader for Tired Moms,” an ebook collection of some of her favourite blog posts.

For Mother’s Day this year, I’d like to suggest that we take up Lisa-Jo’s challenge, and become cheerleaders for one another.

Being a mom is tougher than any professional sport out there. We’ve got to be the coaches who teach and encourage our offspring at every turn, motivating them to do their best, to try harder, to practice more, to go the extra mile.

Then, when they don’t perhaps achieve the goals they’ve set for themselves, it’s our task to provide guidance and sage advice, helping them to deal with disappointment.

We’re the taxi drivers, the food providers, the wardrobe custodians, the homework supervisors and the peacekeepers between siblings. We eachknow just how much goes into a day of raising a child, and with the greatest of respect to professional sportsmen – they get to leave the training field and go home at the end of the day. Being a mom is a 24/7 job, and a lot of the time, we feel like we’re still in training anyway – do you know a mom who is completely comfortable that her parenting skills are perfect?

Just like in sport, there are armchair critics of the work we moms do. And, I’m sad to say, some of the cruelest critics are other moms. In fact, I think it’s an official sport in some school parking lots, and should be banned right up there with pitbull fighting and knife fights – it does as much damage.

So here’s what I’d like to challenge you to do this Mother’s Day: Don’t criticize the moms around you. None of us is perfect, but we’re all working really hard to do the best that we possibly can for our children. Ring up a mom you know and admire – it could be your own mom, your mother in law, or a friend, and tell them what a fantastic job they’re doing or have done with their child or children. Be specific in the compliment you give them, and mean what you say. Maybe point out a parenting lesson that you have learned from them, or how you’ve been inspired by something that they have done. I’m very sure that your words will last longer than any flowers or chocolate – and you’ll have made the kind of personal contact that rebuilds friendships in our age of social media fatigue.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Do houses have souls?

There's a property in Waverley that caught my eye the other day. Properties in this area don't come onto the market often, and when they do they're pricey - but I've noticed that this one has been standing empty for a while, so thought it might be up for a bargain. I won't go into detail about how shocking the estate agent involved is, but I went around there today to have a look, because the asking price is essentially the price of the land - a 3100 square metre property. I have a couple of plots and schemes in mind, and wanted to see if they would actually work. 


Well, the plots and schemes wouldn't work in our world right now, for a number of reasons. However, the reason that struck home the most was the soul of this house. It's a bank repossession to start with - so I guess there's already a bit of bad karma there. Whoever owned it last left in a hurry - it was obviously used as offices, because there were desks in the living area, but they were covered with files and paperwork. One of the bedrooms had the frame of a bed in it, but no mattress. The bathrooms were grim, the ceilings have obviously been leaking for a while, and there were odd personal items left lying around - a racket on the tennis court, exercise balls outside the main bathroom, and cartoon characters on the walls in two of the bedrooms. Combination of things: it just felt yuck being in there, and for any of my plots and schemes to come to fruition, the place would need to be demolished - it's bad karma was way too heavy for me to contemplate a renovation. 


We have noticed a property's soul before, though, when we were looking for a house to buy in 2004. We looked at a property in Linden. When Brett and I walked in, we both felt something heavy falling on our shoulders. As we wandered through the house, I literally couldn't bring myself to speak. One room in the house had very clean carpets - the rest of the house was filthy. It made me think that a vicious murder had taken place there, or serial abuse - there was just something evil in that house's soul, and we couldn't get out of there fast enough. Both of us picked up the same energy, and experienced the same reaction. 


I guess picking up good energy in a house is what makes you buy it. We both picked up good energy when we walked into our current home, and that energy is what made us buy it. Lord knows, if we'd looked a little closer, we probably would have run for the hills - old houses, no matter how warm their souls, come with a much more than they appear to, and not necessarily in a good way. 


But even though we didn't look closely enough to pick up the cracked pool or the destroyed floors, we felt that it was home. And most people who visit our home comment on how welcome they feel here. 


A psychic friend who housesat for us once said that she'd seen an old lady wandering around the house. Quite a plump dame, with grey hair twisted into a loose bun. A friendly soul apparently. 


Perhaps she is the soul of our home - a warm and welcoming grandmother. The soul of the house I went to today is more like a mid-40s polygamist cad who leaves his dirty alaundry lying around for everyone else to pick up. The soul of the Linden house was an angry, hardened, bitter spinster aunt with a penchant for corporal punishment. 


What did you feel when you first walked into the home you live in? If you could describe the soul of your home, what would it look like? 

Things I've learned on our beach holiday

The most important ingredients for a great beach holiday are the love of your life, and the two most beautiful boys that ever there were. 


1 For a successful beach holiday, you need to be able to walk off your deck, take no more than 20 steps, and be on the beach. 


2 You have to be able to see the waves from your deck, while you're sipping your gin and tonic. 


3 You have to have a swimming pool at hand, so that you can swim there to wash the ocean off. And to swim in when the ocean just gets too rough. 


4 You don't need a big house with a big kitchen for a successful beach holiday. In fact, the small kitchen at your beach house teaches you how to use space efficiently, and makes you think about how your kitchen at home is designed and equipped.


5 There's nothing like swimming in the ocean to give your big boy a confidence boost. 


6 There's nothing like a tidal pool to give him that confidence boost while keeping him safe from the pounding waves and sharp rocks. 


7 It's always good to have a safety net when you're on a beach holiday. Like two tablet computers loaded with movies for boys to watch when the weather is miserable. Because even Lego has it's limits... 


8 There's no such thing as too many Easter eggs. 


9 Hipster restaurants are everywhere. Can they still be hipster then, if they're so ubiquitous? 


10 Pinterest looks like a great idea. But where do you find the time to participate, if you're not stuck in a beach cottage on a stormy afternoon with nothing else to do?


11 There is such a thing as too many scatter cushions. 


12 There is no such thing as too many towel hooks in a beach cottage. 


13 A beach holiday never requires as much clothing as you think it will. Always pack half the clothes, and double the undies. 


14 Children make friends wherever they go. Adults could learn much from the simplicity of this. 


15 There's nothing like a beach holiday to create the space for a family to reconnect. 


16 The Internet yields many wonderful finds. Our beach cottage is just one such find, and we will be returning here again and again. 


17 To a little boy, having the single bed with the tiny window with the peek of the ocean is much more important than having the double bed with no view. 


18 Building sand castles is as much fun for grownups as it is for little boys. Probably more so. 


There are probably many more lessons to be learned. But I'm off to make the most of another important holiday lesson: When one's husband tells one that one should watch Game of Thrones, one should trust his judgement and watch it. ;-) 

Review: A visit to SciBono

I visited SciBono for the second time on 4 April  – my four year old son asked that we go there on his birthday because he had such fun when we visited in December.

If you’ve not heard about it, SciBono is a playful science learning centre, located in Newtown opposite the Turbine Hall and the SAB World of Beer. I would not be exaggerating when I say that there are hundreds of interactive exhibits – there’s everything from a MIG replica and a replica of the Wright brothers’  plane tobinteractive science experiments that make understanding physics and electricity as easy as pie.

There are quite a few soccer-related games, so the kids can be active as well, and then there’s the Murray & Roberts construction  site, where larger than life foam ‘bricks’ and ‘mortar’ are used by the children to build with – with the help of pulleys, bucket lifts and conveyor belts that they power themselves.

And that’s just the beginning – there’s really too much to describe in one blog post.

The several floors of exhibits are staffed by friendly people all dressed in bright orange jackets who will explain each exhibit to you, should you wish. They are also really good at keeping the place spotless, by asking politely that you refrain from eating or drinking on the exhibition floor.

There’s a lovely coffee shop with possibly the cheapest prices in Johannesburg – where else could you enjoy a 250ml cappuccino for R10, each served with its own decoration by a smiling gentleman who is pretty inspirational in his own right..

SciBono has a separate room for hosting parties – the children can have the run of the warehouse for the duration of the event, but you can keep your drinks and snacks and the all-important cake time away from the rest of the visitors.

This is really one of the gems of Jozi – it feels secure enough that mom could take her laptop or book and sit in the coffee shop and let the littlies have the run of the place – and they’re learning all the time, even though they’re not aware of it. My boys are 4 and 6, and love it, but we had guests in the early teens in December who had a blast too.

If you’re in Jozi over the holidays or over the weekend, and are stuck for ideas for things to do, this spot should be top of your list. And with adult tickets costing just R20, and kids over 6 costing R10 (under 6 are free), it’s affordable enough to visit several times over. 

Old friends, ftw

I've just returned from a week in the UK - an opportunity to reunite with two of my favourite university friends, cannily crafted around a wedding in a castle in Scotland. Awesome, yes?

It's difficult to put a finger on what the best part was - but it all started with picking up exactly where we had left off even though there's been so much time and space since we last saw one another. The last time we were together was 14 years ago, although I saw Euan (now from Edmonton in Canada) seven years ago, and Tom (now resident in Henley-on-Thames) two years ago, when I was best person at his wedding.

A road trip up the length of Britain, coloured with at least 20 million blooming daffodils (no exaggeration at all there), lots of gin-and-tonics in beautiful spots, fine food, flavours of ancient history, and probably the warmest March week in recorded weather history all combined to make an unforgettable week.

It was a great trip - and I am so grateful for the friendship of these two special men - and that we've kept it going through the years.

It was bittersweet remembering the other people who were part of our circle way back when - one is deceased, others have scattered to the four winds. But it was really lovely catching up.

And really really great to be home too. I missed Brett, so much - and have to just point out the awesomeness of my husband who was completely ok with me roadtripping with two married men. I missed my boys - who I swear grew up in the week I was away.

The things I didn't miss? That's a whole other blog post. For another day.