Mothers day is around the corner

So its been a bit quiet here. I had a pesky shoulder fixed two weeks ago and am slowly recuperating. I popped into the office yesterday to get post, touch base etc and found this lovely surprise on my desk

Two of my very favorite things in life, especially for a bit of me-time - great chocolates and a good book.Also included is a special contract for the family to sign to give me some mommy time and movie tickets to boot. So what's this all about?

Lindt and Exclusive Books have partnered to bring women like you time to yourselves. Step into your favourite Exclusive Books store and discover a space filled with must-read Mother’s Day books to go with every LINDOR moment. Alternatively, stand a 1 in 5 chance of winning one of 30 000 books when you purchase a 200g box of LINDOR milk or assorted. 

Thanks to Lindt and Exclusive books for the lovely surprise and hint hubby and the kids in the right direction.

Blast from the past post.

As I am slowly working through the years of this blog, removing some personal details (keeping them in the private blog only), I keep stumbling on posts that were either very popular or that I believe should have been more popular and had more comments, or that I feel was a good piece of writing or information. I have decided to from time to time feature them on a Wednesday (for a way- back).

Today I am featuring a post form 17 March 2011

So what would you have done?

If you were a mom in Japan, tomorrow a week ago? Alone, at home with 3 small kids. Would you grab the two smallest and try to speak to the oldest to get them to safety as soon as the earthquake starts? And after that, assuming you made it out safe and now have to flee in front of a possible tsunami? Truly, I have no idea.

To read more click here
(It only had 65 views -very low for my blog at that time.)

One of those big debates

You know those ones that always do the rounds that pitch mom against mom. The Csetion vs natural birth, the Whole foods feed vs porridge driven, the school vs homeschooling debate - one can continue. But the one that by far seem to get the most attention at the moment is the SAHM vs working mom debate.

Of course for most mom that work, this is no debate at all. We have to work - its not purely by choice but mostly our of necessity. School fees, the cost of living - it is simply too high. If you then have your own business or is a partner to one you also support all those that work for you and their families. Its a no brainer debate, because the option simply does not exist. Which makes me even more angry that the debate in the media is fueled as if we all have a choice. Add to that that I mostly really enjoy my work and would be a no good housekeeper and educator and the answer is clearly that I will remain a working mom.

But the holidays this week has left me with feelings I have not really had before during a holiday. It's the first one where more kids (2) are at home and only one have a good holiday school option. We enrolled them in the programmes of the sports they love and also in art classes which they both like but I did have to plan very carefully to get the taking and fetching done. I guess having the extra demand of my mom in hospital and her needs having to be seen to adds to it. Also, she has always been a help over holidays - at the very least entertaining a kid for a day or two and a sleepover or two which made it feel like holiday and special to them.

Now and again though I find myself thinking that it would have loved to be able to be a SAHM for the school holidays. To take them to activities and actually seeing them enjoying it. To do art with them myself. To sleep in and stay in Pj's for the day and watch DVD all day. To leisurely stroll through the streets with the dogs and feed the chickens. To go to the bicycle park and ride around. To go to a morning movie and ice cream after. To just spend more time with them. I wish I had more time - well in general too, not just with the kids. But unfortunately for a lot of us time is also money. Its a sad but very true reality.

So in this debate as in many others, lets be kind to each other, lets support. Know that the working mom would have loved to be at the netball tournament and the teachers birthday. Know that the SAHM would love a few moments quiet time in front of a computer and some grown up interaction and brian stimulation. Know that we each face our own set of circumstances. And know that once in a while the other side of the fence look a whole lot greener than your side.

There's a destinct little nip in the air in the mornings...

and the first autumn leaves are taking a place of pride on the trees. I believe the Cape Townians have full blown winter weather, rain and all. So its that time of the year to start to stock up on warm clothes, hot chocolate (what? Easter chocolate would be great too) and books of course! So what to read? I have read an excellent bunch of books the last month but more about that next time. To help you choose, I bring you the Exclusive Books recommend list for April:

The April Book of the Month

 & Sons by David Gilbert. The funeral of Charles Henry Topping on Manhattan’s Upper East Side would have been a minor affair, except for the presence of one particular mourner: the notoriously reclusive A.N Dyer whose novel Ampersand stands as a classic novel of American teenage angst. & Sons is the panoramic, deeply affecting story of an iconic novelist, two interconnected families and the heart-breaking truths that fiction can hide.

The Girl with A Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson is a thriller about love, loss and the memories we hold closest to our hearts. George Foss never thought he would see her again, but on a late night in Boston there she was, in his local bar. George first met her when she was eighteen years old and they became inseparable. Over Christmas break he received the news that she had committed suicide. Twenty years later, she is back and telling George that he is the only one who can help her.

Mrs Hemingway by Naomi Wood tells a tale about the most famous writer of his generation and the four extraordinary women who married Ernest Hemingway. Set in the dazzling summer of 1926, it is luminous and intoxicating. Over the ensuing decades, Ernest’s literary career will blaze a trail, but his marriages will be ignited by passion and deceit. Four extraordinary women will learn what it means to love a world-renowned author: each will be forced to ask herself how far she will go to remain his wife. Mrs Hemingway portrays real lives with rare intimacy and plumbs the depths of the human heart.

The News by Alain De Botton explains what we are looking for when we watch or read the news in a philosophical way. De Botton looks at the manic and peculiar position that the ‘news’ occupies in our lives. This brilliantly illustrated guide advises us on the precautions we should take before venturing anywhere near the ‘news’ and the noise it generates.

The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick is a story about thirty-eight year old Bartholomew Neil, who has lived with his mother his whole life. When she dies, he has no idea how to be on his own. His grief counsellor Wendy tells him to “find his flock and leave the nest”, but how does a man whose whole life has revolved around his mother, Saturday Mass and the library learn how to fly?

Although I am not a fan of any of the specific authors I am without a doubt going to at least read "Mrs Hemingway" and "The Girl with a clock for a heart". Both right up my ally

Our bookclub use these choices from Exclusive books every month to compile our lists and it is a great help to get pointers in the direction of great reading.

Note: I do not get paid in any way to do the Exclusive books releases. I do this in the interest of great reading.