Fully Charged Parenting

I'm turning 41 this year, it's a retrospective time of life methinks. I mean, "life begins at forty" must surely come from the days of getting married and having children much younger, so they would have been leaving home to start families of their own at this age. I imagine parents whose kids had all left home by forty waved their sons and daughters off on their honeymoons and then high-fived each other once the front door was closed.



Yay! The kids have moved out!
guardian.co.uk



I had my first child at 36 however, so Hubby and I have a wee bit longer before we'll be high-fiving ourselves. And we might need someone to help us lift our hands at that stage.

I can see benefit both ways. I didn't choose to have children in my late 30's, that's just when I met the man. He's nearly five years younger than me (woo hoo, Toy Boy!) and we both feel in many ways we're better parents now than we would have been if we'd met younger.

Amidst a Flurry of Visitors

I told someone the other day that family and I were "amidst a flurry of visitors" and liked the way it sounded so it became my post. Love sounding like a Jane Austen heroine from time to time. Don't know why, just love the language.

But I digress .... (see?!!).

For those that don't know, I'm a Brit happily living in South Africa but who pines, quite literally, for the friends and family back home from time to time. Who am I kidding, a lot of the time. Imagine my excitement then, that we are having three sets of visitors over from the UK this Summer.

First came my folks, meaning my Mum and my Stepdad, who we've just waved off after a two week stay in Joburg. We had the most fabulous time. The kids adore their grandparents and it'd been two years since we all got together last. WE MISS YOU GUYS!!!!

Well I Never ... No. 2

Three Cool, Useful or Otherwise Interesting Things I Didn't Know a Month Ago.

1. You Shouldn't use Boiling Water to Make Hot Drinks.

gallery.hd.org

I used to be one of those people who hovers over the kettle, waiting for it to boil. Usually because there's a wanting hubby or the rest of a movie waiting for me. Then I read somewhere that boiling water scalds, and if you pour it directly onto your instant coffee or tea bag, it affects the taste. It can also scald the milk. Hmmm. So I Googled a bit, experimented a bit and guess what? It's true. This is how I now make instant coffee; boil the kettle, but then let it stand for 5 mins. Put coffee, sugar and a little hot (but not boiling) water in the cup and stir it up so the coffee and sugar dissolve. Add the milk and then top up slowly with hot water, so the milk warms up slowly. If you can be bothered to stick a pan of milk on (I can't frankly) then warm milk is actually best. Coffee in particular tastes a lot less bitter made this way, and I'm using less sugar now. What does that say for percolators though??

2. Sand Dunes Hum.
They do! http://www.acoollink.com/sand-dunes-hum/ And the bods who spend their days finding out why, er .... well ... they don't know exactly why yet. I'm sure once they get their next multi billion dollar grant they'll suss it out though.

3. Oestrogen Works Like Valium.

Nora Batty

Dr. Oz said so. The reason we get less tolerant as we get older is down to the drop in hormone levels in particular Oestrogen, which amongst many other things, can control our mood. Oestrogen has been in popular use as a drug since the 1960's for many health issues including contraception, tiredness, depression, poor concentration, irritability, mood swings, skin problems, low libido, osteoporosis, heart disease prevention, and others. And men and women are effected pretty much equally by a drop in levels. You don't need an excuse or a reason to be a grumpy old git, it's hormonal my friend.