Tag Archives: kids

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: Falcon Power From the Wild, Wild, Wild Boys

It’s always a good thing to learn about our country’s wildlife.

Falcon power. Photo by: Richard Sagredo on Unsplash.

 

February 21, 2025

The third small boy in our house has now hit the stage of tall stories, potty training, and screaming not to be restrained in the car seat.

He’s also got the advantage of superpowers much earlier than his older siblings who didn’t get to watch such advanced programming – nothing much beyond Peppa Pig, Bing, and Winnie the Pooh.

Now, It’s Wild Kratts, a highly educational wildlife programme that also happens to have baddies trying to steal or eat rare animals that need saving.

The Kratt brothers use their power suits with various animal powers to do that saving. By the end of the episode, you know all about the species, so I’ve shrugged off the superpower stuff mostly.

The Wild, Wild, Wild Linds

As a result, the littlest person in our family is now hitting his chest (the button on the power suit). He shouts, ‘Falcon power,’ and zooms from one end of the house to the other. And back again. Sometimes, it’s cheetah power, grasshopper power, salamander power, or any other of the number of species the Kratt brothers showcase on their show.

He’s learning about quite a wide variety of animals, I guess. I don’t know many other two-year-olds who can talk about falcons and actually know what they are and what they do. I could be wrong on that.

Anyway, if you hear me calling the boys, ‘Wild, wild, wild Linds’ you’ll know why. They’re basically Kratts.

I wonder if there will come a day when my sons are roaming the earth doing conservation work with rare species and developing their own power suits. It seems like that would be a great way to spend a life.

Meet the Kratt brothers and their wildlife show.

Published here.

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: Smartphone Is Now Properly Dead

“It won’t switch on at all. It looks like a dog’s breakfast.”

PHOTO BY PIXABAY

March 15, 2024

Look, it held on for a good two years of bumps, bangs, falls into tiles, grubby little people‘s fingers, spilled tea, and even a bit of Bovril that someone had so kindly spilled and camouflaged on the granite countertop. It even hung on as the glass protector cracked, and chipped away and then the screen started to chip away, too. It’s a good thing not many people phone thanks to the invention of instant messaging because if they did, there was always a chance of getting glass pieces in my ear. Yes, it was that bad.

I’ve had a few phones I had to leave in rice overnight for leaked water bottles or similar things. I even had a joke about who fixed the phone while it lay in the rice all that time, but I was reprimanded about it not being PC and I won’t repeat it.

When I worked in South Korea, I ate rice every day at school. Kimchi, too, of which there are thousands of varieties. In my second year in the land of Samsung, I decided to get with the programme. Everyone has a smartphone! So, in 2013 I got one, too. A Galaxy S2 with a dark purple cover.

It was a whole new world, especially discovering the phenomenal camera (it was cutting edge at the time). We could travel just with a smartphone and still get amazing pictures of everything along the way! Who knew? So convenient. It seems so archaic a decade later. Now, you can probably just blink and your TokTik robot will automatically bedazzle it, turn it into a video, and post it for three million perfect strangers to put thumbs on.

My dying phone could do everything I needed it to, especially capture my babies’ funny faces, milestones, and everything else. Since my camera still worked and I didn’t have much free time on my hands, I held on. I also don’t like to waste good money on expensive things when it’s my fault they need replacing. It’s not even close to my birthday. So, I eked out every bit of battery life until the end and kept taking those pictures and videos of my sweet boys.

Now, though, it is dead. Properly dead. It won’t switch on at all. It looks like a dog’s breakfast. How lucky that Mom and Dad have a spare one I could use until I get my act together. I can keep taking pictures. I can keep writing silly stories with just my thumb.

Published here.

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: Number Three 18 Months and The Next Phase

“I wonder if the next phase is going to be just as eventful?”

Heather Lind.

February 16, 2024

It seems impossible, but here we are. The youngest of the three Oribi farm boys in our house is already eighteen months old. He is running around, navigating steps, imitating the Samango calls and climbing antics, and eating mince by himself. Well, that last one is a ‘sort of’ by himself, because a lot of it still lands up on the floor for the two dogs or the two million ants that apparently live under our home.

Eighteen months ago, we were in NICU and unsure whether we would be going home with or without him. I don’t wish that on any mother or father. Now, here we are, a world away, and trying to keep up with the shoe sizes changing every few weeks. We’ve exchanged time standing still for weeks that fly by and make you wonder how on earth the pantry can be empty again. Didn’t we just go shopping? Weren’t there two full boxes of grapes in the fridge yesterday? Farm boys are hungry boys.

One at primary school, one at playschool, and one in nappies. Three that love tractors, trucks, TLBs, jigaduzas, and crop-spraying helicopters. One that’s allergic to penicillin. Another that’s allergic to being told ‘no’.

Time Waits For Nobody, So Enjoy It

We’re two-and-a-half years down the line from the rioting that had night watch duty, and four years on from the start of the global pandemic. Did we really wear masks and avoid malls and deplete the toilet paper stocks of every shop everywhere? What a crazy few years it’s been for these particular parents of very small children. It seems like the world has not only turned on its axis but also flipped upside down a few times. I suspect that many of you can relate, even if stinky nappies haven’t been part of your recent experience.

And life goes on. It is going on.
It feels a little overwhelming to speculate what a few more years could bring when the last seven for our family have been, well, let’s call it surprising. God isn’t surprised, no doubt. For the rest of us, it’s all a bit of a rollercoaster.

I wonder if the next phase is going to be just as eventful here in Oribi Gorge. Adventure awaits, I’m sure.

Published here.

Oribi Mom

Oribi Mom: Full Power of Tea Time and Toddlers

“Time to watch the sunbird and sip on a cup of hot tea.”

PHOTO BY PIXABAY

October 22, 2023 

I made the grave mistake of saying, “Turn the vacuum to full power please.” I immediately recognised the error of my ways. My rambunctious three-year-old’s eyes widened, sparkled, and then started to look around for something he could use to enter the roleplay.

“Full power!” “Let’s go, go, go!” “Ready?” “Full power!” “C’mon guys, it’s time to fly.” “Time to fix!” “Leeeeet’s do this!” And every other line he knows from kids’ shows, songs, and stories. It’s all about adventure, construction, transport, rescues and emergency situations these days.

A Not So Quiet Cup of Tea Among Superheroes

My quiet cup of tea that morning was to the sound of the weed eater outside backed up by the sound of the vacuum cleaner on the inside. The weed eater droned and sputtered along in a pleasant sort of way that promised shorter grass and a neater garden. The vacuum cleaner buzzed as little fingers flicked switches, vacuumed up toys for fun, and continuously turned the power up and down, up and down, up and down.

I’m always grateful that a cup of hot rooibos with lemon has such a calming effect on my senses. It’s a lifeline to have a sensory overload solution handy for these kinds of days. I know I’ll miss these loud, hands-on hours with my boys. One day, they’ll be stoic teenagers staring at their feet instead of willingly getting on with household cleaning tasks.

Will we still be able to enjoy our lovely weekend mornings on the porch? The sun comes up over the ridge, just enough to warm the seats and dry off the dew on the balustrade. Then it rises high up over the roof in the heat of the day so that you can sit in the shade and look for birds or buck in the forest, gorge and macadamia groves beyond.

Love the Quiet Moments With the Not-So-Quiet Ones

The vacuum cleaner game didn’t last too long and the weed eater faded off into the far side of the property. The mommy Amethyst sunbird that’s built her nest on the wire fish finally braved coming to feed the hatchlings again. I’ve lost count of how many broods she’s raised on our porch now. It’s nice to have another mommy close by who’s also got responsibilities.

The boys moved the roleplaying to the sandpit, and started emptying the rain tank again. But now that the lounge is relatively clean after a vacuum, there’s more time to watch the sunbird … and sip on another cup of hot tea.

Published here.