The magic of Father Christmas

The fantasy and magic of Christmas time! I believe in adding fantasy and magic to the lives of our kids! They love the stories of a Christmas Father, with reindeer, and bringing the presents from the North Pole.

(On that note: How cute is the Portable North Pole videos from Father Christmas that you can personalize each year? For free! (Although there are cooler options when you upgrade.) There are also the birthday video that comes once a year!) We watch them every year!

I can remember my own excitement as a little kid at Christmas time!

I do not want to take this special time away from her. Little Miss has already told us that she knows that it is us who brings the presents! She is nearly 8 years, and it seems this year is the turning point! Some kids at school have also voiced their opinions... But she still gets excited about putting up the Christmas Tree, and musing about her presents!

I saw a video of a pastor in America shouting to kids at a mall that Father Christmas is not real! *Sigh*

I do not think of it as telling lies, but as adding excitement and fun into her life. She will be able to separate the myths from the truths in years to come! How boring would life be without these family traditions?

(It is also not difficult at all to add religion into the mix when you explain the reason why we are celebrating this time!)

I was reminded about the seriousness of her beliefs in a Tooth Mouse when she dislodged one of her final teeth last week. She immediately went to put the tooth in a shoe and kept on checking up on it through the evening. The Tooth Mouse was very tardy, because when she checked up the next morning, the tooth was still there! The Tooth Mouse had a lot of explaining to do (in a letter) about helping Father Christmas at this time of year...

I personally love the magic of Christmas time!
This is the best week of the year building up to Christmas Day!

Enjoy!
Peace!
Happy families!

The Tooth Mouse came to fetch tooth number 8 while camping

She asked the teacher to pull tooth number 8. (We can't be trusted, it seems!)
She said the teacher just touched it, and it came loose.

So we went camping with the tooth, hoping that the Tooth Mouse would find it there.

Tooth number 8
Could not get the phone camera to focus on the teeth
Notice the cute bag the teacher uses for the teeth (the children choose the stickers)

The first night she put the teeth in a shoe next to her sleeping bag, and when she woke it, there was a R50 note with a letter from the Tooth Mouse. (It seems he was under the impression it is the last of the teeth she is going to loose, and gave a little bit more than the usual R10.)
There was also a R30 in one of the other tents of the friends we were camping with. He must have gotten lost at some point during the night while searching for her teeth...
Little Miss was very impressed, and was telling everybody at camp about her riches and the letter.
R80 ($6.756) is a bit steep, but it is all going into the "plane fund" (our upcoming overseas trip, as she calls it!).

A reminder to all parents: Google says they replace all of their 20 primary teeth with 28-32 permanent ones. This keeps going until they are about 13 years old.
How come I don't remember the bigger teeth coming out?

The next night she decided to sent a letter to the Tooth Mouse as well, and put some cheese on a plate with the letter (see first photo). It was of course all gone in the morning. She was a bit lot upset that he took the paper plate with him, and we had some convincing to do. (One of the many strange things she gets upset about...)

For now the Tooth Mouse is going strong in our house!

Related posts:

- Adventures with a Tooth Mouse

- Great excitement over a loose tooth!

A weekend of recovering

As much as I thought the previous time that Home Affairs was a breeze when we applied for our passports, as much my mind has been changed completely!

We were there on Saturday at half past seven, and the queue was a queue ... was A QUEUE!.
It took ages to get in there as they do not let everybody go into the building all at once. (Which makes sense!)

We had to be there with Little Miss as her thumb print is required again when picking up the passports. She was hungry (of course!) for three whining hours long. The breakfast bars only went as far as breakfast bars could go.

We finally got our passports, but it was an epic!

We did not do anything much the rest of the weekend!

Earth Hour 2015

We switched off the lights on Saturday at 20:30, and got very sleepy with the dark of the dark hour! Earth Hour is always something we enjoy doing with the children.

In final news: Little Miss pulled her seventh teeth yesterday. It is the first one that she managed to dislodge herself, and she was very proud.

The Tooth Mouse was also very eager, and she got R15 (a note and a R5 coin, nogals), while she was in the bath. The note stated that he was very impressed with the quality of her teeth!

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Little Miss is attending Vacation School during the holidays. She is still eager to go to school while they are keeping them busy. With an extra payment from the parents (of course!), but it helps as we are busy saving leave for the longer vacations coming up!


What are you doing with the kids during the school holidays?

First week of school - still getting into it!

First day of school - homework

The first few days of school have passed already. It has been hectic with sorting the after-care, extra-murals, parent meetings and helping with the homework. (And we only have the one child! "Phew!*)

Little Miss has been very tired after each day.

Her first feedback on her first day was that she very surprised that she did not learn to read on the first day!

Little Hoots - First day in Grade 1

Dad had been struggling with her being very clingy in the mornings when he goes to drop her off.
She doesn't want to play with the other friends. Only off course the one friend who does not always reciprocate!
How do you tell/learn a six year old that you can have and play with more than one friend?

We hope it's only because of the new year with new things and that Little Miss will become more relaxed as she gets used to everything.

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I had to make an unexpected visit to the dentist yesterday. Little Miss had been complaining about a toothache, but we put it down to all the milk teeth being lost in recent months.

Dr Wayne

It was with a new dentist, but Dr Wayne turned out to be a gem as well. He can speak good Afrikaans! (It was awesome!)

Little Miss cooperated and her tooth was fixed! (The previous time it was a whole hoo-ha! and we had to give her a mild sedative and we had to prepare her before the time...)

I am very proud of her for staying in the chair and sticking it out!

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How is the New Year school year treating you?

Teeth adventures - Number 4

Crisis again! Tooth number four went missing!

These "adventures" with teeth are keeping us busy, it seems!

Little Miss lets them hang and wiggle in her mouth, but won't let us come near them, or try to loosen them up.

Tooth number 4 was still there when Little Miss brushed her teeth on Tuesday night, but she discovered the open space (on top, right hand side) in her mouth while reading a book to her and her friend.

It was a total melt-down situation!
It was traumatic!

Luckily the situation was brought under control by promising to write to the Tooth Mouse, and telling him about the situation. He would definitely find the tooth where it had gone missing!

Big Sister wrote the letter, and it was placed in the slipper.
(Letter to the tooth mouse here: Babysitting two girls)

On Wednesday there was a letter back from the Tooth Mouse with a R10 paper note.
He wrote that he had found it! Jay!

Tooth number 3

Tooth number 3 hanging by a thread

Tooth number three kept us busy until half past nine last night.
She did not want anyone touching it, but simultaneously asking us to help her with the tooth...
There was a lot of crying, some screaming, and lots of tissues used trying to pull the teeth by herself!

In the end she trusted her Dad to pull it with a piece of floss!

She is very proud about this gap today!

She was also surprised today that the Tooth Mouse used her own ribbon to tie around the message.

But luckily we did not have the same adventures with the Tooth Mouse than we did with tooth number two. The tooth was put in a slipper next to the bed, and the money and the message were neatly tucked into it this morning!

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It was a busy weekend, and Little Miss had her end-of-year gymnastic championships, two parties, and a family gathering that left all of us exhausted. (I will try to put up the blog posts this week!)

Adventures with a tooth mouse

I don't know why we are being serviced by the tooth mouse and not the tooth fairy...
But somewhere a decision got us stuck with the tooth mouse, and apparently we can't have the tooth fairy coming to get the teeth now! (Says Little Missy!)

Scene 1:

The bottom tooth, Tooth number two,  has been loose for quite a while, and every now and again it was a whole upheaval when she had bitten on something. But we could not get near enough to it to pull it.
On Saturday the final straw was when there was blood. Dad tried to pull the tooth with tooth floss, but could not get in there for long enough to take it out. Mom was summoned as a last resort. The tooth came loose without even pulling on it! It was a huge relief!

Scene 2:

The tooth was put in a bag, and put underneath her cushion in her bed. I don't know why we did not tell her to put it in a shoe? There is an ad going around now about a little girl with a teeth underneath her cushion, but she only got a coupon the next day.  That must have influenced Little Miss?

Scene 3:

On Saturday afternoon while tidying up I discovered that the ants are marching to Little Miss's bed, and on closer inspection I found a dead moth underneath her cushion. I had to vacuum everything.
As I was placing the bag with teeth back underneath her cushion, I could not see the tooth and was starting to panic. But it was still there! It is just so VERY small!

Scene 4:

It was a very musical-beds kind of night, with Dad and me swapping places in Little Miss' bed. She was keeping on checking the tooth. I got out of her bed just before six. I had managed to secure the tooth and gave it to Dad. Dad was on his way to sort the tooth mouse, when Little Miss woke up. She was very upset that the tooth was gone and there was no money.

I managed to convince her that it is still very early and that we must give it some time...

In the meantime Dad had to go and search for the tooth mouse which might have been spooked. He nearly fell down the stairs when the tooth mouse ran past him, and left some coins and a little note on the stairs.

Dad could take the coins and note to Little Miss. She was much impressed with the R9 ($0.82) in coins, and immediately saved it for her trampoline that she wants in the garden. (Still don't know where we are going to put it?)

We later on found another note by the tooth mouse. (There was a bit of a misunderstanding, and Big Sister also did her part.)
It would have made it a lot easier...

Next time, we are definitely putting it in the shoe!


Do you have special holder for the tooth, or where do you put it?

Wordless Wednesday #246 - Tooth number two

Brave girl's tooth fixed

Dad's hand on foot

It was an anxious week before the time. We were counting the days, but not because of excitement, but because of trepidation...

Little Missy was extremely scared of having her tooth fixed. We got a small calming pill to give her an hour before the time. And told her that she would be sleepy and not feel a thing. (Thumbs crossed)
She told us time and time again that she was scared, and that she did not want to go. It took a lot of convincing. I don't like them having to get anaesthesia for only one tooth!

I was so glad we did! Dentist Chantelle fixed her tooth without an injection. Little Missy was a lot calmer when the pill kicked in, but kept on telling us that she is not sleeping!

The dentist recommended ice-cream as reward. (Strange, but true!)

And she got a new Bratz doll that we promised.

I am very proud of Little Missy for being brave and not freaking out, although she felt like it!

It is a huge milestone since her first visit to the dentist where the dentist could only do a quick peek in her mouth until the fourth time where she finally had a proper check-up!

The Tooth Mouse is visiting tonight

The first milk tooth is finally out!

The tooth is in her boot, with a message to the Tooth Mouse and an arrow to indicate where it us.

The teacher pulled her tooth today and stuck the tooth in her school note book with a message to the Tooth Mouse. 

Related post:

- Great excitement about a loose tooth!

Great excitement about a loose tooth!

Little Missy is extremely excited!

She has been telling me non-stop since picking her up today that her bottom front tooth ‎is loose. That is the same tooth that started to hurt yesterday and for which I had made an appointment at the dentist for tomorrow. 

I had to feel for 101 times that the tooth is getting more wiggly by the second! 

"I do not care‎ that your hand is dirty, Mom! Feel the tooth!"

I had to phone her dad immediately to tell him the news. 

But her Big Sister must not be told... She wants to surprise her with the gap in her mouth! (Be warned, Sister‎!)

Finally - fourth time lucky at the dentist!

We tried for a fourth time yesterday to get Little Missy in the dentist chair!

She promised that this time she would definitely sit and open her mouth. 

And she did!

She was at first reluctant. 

But after her big sister had her check-up and she could look over the dentist shoulder, it made all the difference...

The very capable dentist, Chantelle, did not mind at all that Little Missy was hanging over her arms and instruments. She, in fact, told her to come very close.

We have found our dentist for the Little One (and also the Big Ones)!

Little Missy had a check-up, her first teeth x-ray, and a teeth cleaning. 

All is well with her teeth for now! 

Thank goodness!

I made an Animoto for her fourth visit to the dentist:

Check out this video I made with @animoto - Fourth time lucky - at the dentist! http://t.co/nWBhPmsxKS
— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) July 2, 2013

Related post:

Third try at the dentist 

Day Care punishment

The woman looking after Mieka at the crèche had been fired. She was seen giving a baby a hiding. They have closed circuit television, and she was caught red-handed. My first thought was that she was caught having a smoke near a baby, or that she had left the babies on their own. This would have been worse as well. I am thankful that the crèche management reacted immediately.
But, Horrors! I can’t imagine what possesses a person to hit a baby. There is never a reason. What if she had hit Mieka as well? I hate the thought! The thought that we have to trust other people to look after our babies. Damn that I have to work! Do other people feel the same as me? Or am I just feeling down? The working mother’s guilt kicking in again?

Mieka has got her second tooth. They are coming in one after the other, because we can see them in the gums, all shiny. Luckily it did not affect her very badly. You always hear the scary stories about teeth and babies getting sick. She only has a runny nose, and the sleeping has been going better this week. Margot, it seems we are not going to need the sleep training. (Thumbs crossed!) We are also noticing that she is pivoting on her behind, and sometimes gets on her one knee when she want to reach out to something or someone. Maybe the crawling thing is still going to happen? Self-talk: RELAX, Karen, and enjoy the baby!