Your Baby & Toddler

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TWEETS WE LOVE YOUR STORIES & CONNECT WITH MOMS. SEND YOUR COMMENTS TO LETTERS@YOURBABY.CO.ZA KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS

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our children and social media. We have three beautiful little ones aged seven, three and 16 months. My wife and I both have various social media accounts but from the time our eldest was born, we decided that we would not post a single picture of her on any of them. You can imagine our horror when family members and friends flashed her face across their platforms, tagging us along the way. We immediatel­y asked them to take it down (which they begrudging­ly did) but the point is, our newborn was exposed to the cyber world, even if it was for a short period of time. Since this incident, we have asked everyone around us to respect our decision, not to post pictures of our kids and to ask us first – and our answer is always a resounding NO! When our kids started school, so began a whole new rigmarole of explanatio­ns as their schools also have their own social media sites, a website and whatsapp groups. In the beginning, the school said it was their choice as it was their platforms, and that they published group pictures rather than individual ones, but our argument that these pictures are posted in real time hit home with a lot of other parents, who also insisted that no picture should be posted without parental consent. Since then, the school and parents have worked together, and there are new rules in place. My three-year-old is a real chatterbox and sometimes the things that come out of her mouth amaze me. But it’s the innocent ( and incredibly truthful) way she sees the world that always makes me chuckle. Recently, my gran visited us and my daughter was so excited to have a new playmate around. What followed was an endless round of tea parties and dressup sessions. One afternoon, my little girl decided it was time to be fairy princesses. As she twirled around in her costume – wings, wand and all – she suddenly stopped and said, “Yaya, I’m going to make you a princess!” and waved her wand in my gran’s face. Seeing my gran’s wrinkly, old face still there, she said sadly, “Oh, it didn’t work.” My gran and I laughed so much that we actually cried. lot, I developed mastitis and my nipples cracked. That was the worst pain in the world – I even got my husband to buy those nipple shields to help me feed Riely. It took over a month until I could breastfeed my baby without pain or tears. Breastfeed­ing hasn’t been easy journey but I wouldn’t change it for the world as the bond that my daughter and I share is simply beautiful. So to all the new moms out there, my advice to you is to please not give up. Keep at it and give it time – believe me, it’s worth it.

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