Saying yes in a world full of No’s

I think I have said no more in the last five and a half years than I ever have in my life.  Why in the last five and a half years?  Because that is when I became a mom.  As a mother, I have become so good at saying no… pretty much ALL.THE.TIME.

Mom can I have chocolate for breakfast? NO.  Mom can I swim in the rain? NO.  Mom can I climb to the top of the cupboard and jump from it to your bed? NO.  Mom can I ride the dog like a horse? NO.  See Gemma with a pot of sudocrem in her hands (again) cue YELLED NOOOOOOOO!  Khoki’s being welded by same child hovering over her tummy (again) cue more YELLED NOOOOOOO’s!  No no no no no no no no no!

Good lord, I exhaust myself with the amount of times I say no.  However the time I’ve had at home recently has made me slightly less anal.  I am finding that the less stressed I am, the more I am allowing myself to actually say yes to the things my kids are asking of me.

I’ve allowed them to face paint me in the afternoons, I’ve allowed them to play in the rain, I’ve allowed them to jump on my bed like it’s a trampoline, I’ve allowed them to help me prep our evening meals with (gasp) knives… All things that I probably would have said no to previously, either because I was too stressed to take the time to just be with them or because it was easier for to me to just say no.

Now whilst I don’t say yes to EVERYTHING ( I am still not allowing chocolate for breakfast) I have found that saying yes to more has made for happier kids.  And happier kids makes me a happier mom.

 

Getting my Switch on

I don’t know if you know this but I used to work for a gaming company, and was quite into gaming consoles and playing the games that came along with them.  I LOVED my job.  I mean HELLO… I was paid to play games! (a lot of the time I also had to do like you know, actual *work*)

So when I got an invite to attend the Nintendo Switch pre launch event last week I think I might actually have squealed a little.

I was excited to be part of a select few that got to play with a brand new gaming console before everyone else did.  I was also nervous though, it’s been a while since I’ve had to let loose with a gaming console.

Well!  I am totally switched on by the Nintendo Switch!

It is a light , portable console that has detachable controllers (snazzily called joy-cons – joystick slash controller, geddit?) but it’s not strictly only a portable console… What do I mean by this?  It comes with a docking station that you slide the console into which gets hooked up to your big screen and hey presto – non portable console!  I loved that this console has the versatility to effortlessly interchange from a home device to being a portable one.

My favourite thing about the joy-con’s is the HD rumble feature : this allows you to actually feel what is going on in the game in the palm of your hand.  It is eerily accurate and I was astounded to actually be able to feel the amount of balls in the box when I was playing the 1-2-Switch mini game Ball Count.  If using the smaller (but powerful) joy-con’s are not to your fancy, you can always purchase a pro controller.  I foresee the hard core gamer being more comfortable using this accessory.    Other accessories will include steering wheels that can be used when playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

I love that the Switch is ALL about having fun with your friends and family.  When playing the 1-2-Switch games (which are the entry level mini games) it really focused on you looking at your opponent in the eye, bantering with them and then listening for the audio cue’s before out milking them or beating them with your quick draw skill.

The interactive games were by far my best to play, I mean it’s all about looking like a complete dork in Just Dance, or smashing your opponent to the ground, and then picking them up and flinging them around in Arms.

Arms was awesome, I didn’t get any picks of myself playing it but needless to say I was super chuffed that I kicked Sharon’s figurative butt at it.

My absolute best game though was Splatoon 2 taking turf wars to new levels! It was set up in a way that two teams of four competed against each other in a showdown of “inking” the territory with your team colour to gain the most ground for your team.  Sounds simple right? Not!  But SO MUCH FUN.

My kids are at the age where we are considering getting a gaming console for the home – am I considering a purchase of the new Nintendo Switch?  Absolutely!

WANT TO GET SWITCHED ON AS WELL?

You can pre order your Nintendo Switch and accompanying games and accessories on Takealot now before the official launch date of 3rd March 2017.

On Pixie Cuts and Growing Pains…

A little over a year ago I was so bored with my hair, it was driving me mad and I was desperate for something new and fresh.  My mom and sister had been nagging advising me about thinking about cutting it all off and the more I thought about it the more apealing the idea became.  So I took the plunge and went from having past shoulder length hair to rocking a cute little pixie cut.

It was light.  It was cool. It was funky.  I felt so free and sassy. It saved me a fortune in shampoo and conditioner.  I loved it… BUT… it also started costing me a fortune in haircuts to keep that cute and sassy style in shape.  What is it about hair that it grows like wild fire when short and like a tortoise traveling through molasses when you want it to?  I was having to have my hair cut every 3 weeks and it all started adding up.  Also… truth be told I like my face better when framed by a bit of long(ish) hair.

So I decided to grow it out in April of last year and its growing S L O W L Y.  I’m finally past that annoying tickle your ears stage but now I am seemingly stuck in the wispy around your neck slightly dated stage.

I’m getting frustrated with it cos it seems like it’s stuck in a time warp.  Do you think I should get it trimmed to get it in a bit more of a style or should I just vasbyt till it gets to my shoulders till I get the scissors out again?  Also how on earth do I get it to grow FASTER??  I’ve been told to use coconut oil but I HATE the feeling of oily hair – surely there must be another fast growing hair tip?

Hair guru’s help a frustrated girl out!