Jaunty Jan & Fun Feb

Nineteen things to do to add some fun to 2019, from the get-go!

1 Teach your children the jaunty Cape minstrel song “January February March”… It’s a great way to learn the names of the months of the year. Watch out though – it is a real earworm! If you don’t know it, shame on you. Quickly go find it on Youtube. While you are busy with months of the year, also teach your children their birth date. 2 Work on those language skills and teach your children about alliteration. Call yourself “marvellous mommy” and their dad “dynamo daddy”. Once they get it, see if you can make whole sentences where every word starts with the same letter. Tough to tackle! (You see what we did there, right?) 3 Make saving water a family affair. Check your last bill and aim to shave 10% off the next one. Get the children involved and excited about using as little as possible and coming up with clever ways to save. Maybe challenge another family of a similar size to a water- saving competition and compare your kilolitres every month. (Capetonians are already masters of this one…) 4 Get out of your braai rut and try out some new braai recipes. There’s still a lot of summer left. Go to weber.co.za to find some interesting ideas. 5 Find out if your children’s nanny can swim and if she can’t, commit to finding and paying for her to do adult swimming lessons – provided she wants to, of course. Swimming is an essential life skill. 6 Start a new family tradition of telling jokes at the dinner table. Each family member can get a turn. 7 Let your little ones page through your old photo albums and ask you questions about when you were little. Tell them about things that are exactly the same and tell them about things that are completely different. They will be fascinated. 8 When last have you checked if your children are still in the correct size car seat? Remember, weight is the determining factor, not age. Weigh them, and check the specs of the seat. If they are nearly there, start shopping for a replacement. Donate seats that have been outgrown to a cause like Wheel Well (wheelwell.co.za). 9 Do a bit of adult admin before the year gets too busy. Read through all your insurance policies and see if anything needs to change. Muster up the courage to call them to see if you can organise a decrease in payments. Also check your driver’s licence in case it expires this year. Check your car disc too and put a reminder on your calender now to get the new one in good time to avoid penalties. 10 Make tomato sandwiches. We predict that tomatoes are going to be the new avo! Here’s our recipe: Two thick slices of crusty sourdough bread, butter, a little mayo, slices of juicy ripe tomato, pepper, salt and some Italian herbs. Snap a quick pic for Instagram and you’re ready to eat. 11 Speaking of Instagram… Do a social media clean- up. In short, unfollow anyone who doesn’t inspire you. If a particular account just makes you feel “less than” delete it out of your life. It is actually very simple. Also, make a pledge not to get embroiled in arguments in the comments, and move right on when you see other people arguing. Life really is just too short. 12 Houseplants are making a décor comeback. Spoil yourself and buy a gorgeous, fleshy Delicious Monster or a fern. And if you really want to be on trend, get a macramé hanger with that. 13 Give your child a foot massage. If she likes it, give her a scalp massage too. 14 Turn a wall or door in your house into a blackboard with some blackboard paint. All hardware stores stock it. It looks cool and your child will enjoy drawing on it. Plus, drawing with chalk on a blackboard is excellent for the development of those fine motor skills. 15 When your toddler is driving you nuts (we know it happens) give him a roll of toilet paper to play with. It doesn’t cost much and is very easy to clean up afterwards. It should buy you at least 15 minutes of peace. Kick back on the couch and watch him play. 16 Can’t afford a wendyhouse? No problem. Drape a huge big tablecloth or sheet over your kitchen table and allow your child to play house underneath it. 17 Set a day aside to mark all your child’s possessions if she is going to playschool for the first time this year. Not such a fun task, but you’ll be glad you did it. 18 Have you ever tried sprouting seeds? In warm weather they grow to eating size in three days. Get a sprouting kit at your local health store or big pharmacy. Sprouts are delicious and stuffed with all kinds of goodness. 19 Raise a culture vulture. This year decide to take your child to all the art galleries, monuments, museums and theatres in your area. Keep the visits short, though, and choose a time of day when you know your child is at her best, and at the first sign of trouble, make your getaway.