1. Do a major house and garden cleaning. This may not sound like a fun
way to spend a long weekend, but if everyone works together, it can
be. Make a list of everything that needs to be done, and allow each
family member to choose what he or she wants to do. As long as the
person who chooses a particular chore is able to do it, let that
person do it.

2. Take a trip to the midlands and visit “Swisslands Cheese” where you
can feed the goats, see how cheese is made and have a picnic.

3. Head to uShaka where you can visit aquariam (which is open until
8pm) or go paddling in the lake (R70 for a boat ride with two people).

4. Try surfing! It’s R100 to hire a board at uShaka (you get a rash
vest too) and you can pay for lessons if you like.

5. Visit the durban funfair at Northbeach, which is surprisingly safe
and open at night. Rides are reasonable and loads of fun!

6. Try your hand at mini golf at the pavillion. Shop 350, The Pavilion
Mall, Westville 031 2651570

7. Go horse riding on the beach! From R120.

http://www.durban-direct.com/adventure/the-haven-horse-safaris

There’s a story of a man right here in South Africa who sold his land, his home, everything to go and look for diamonds. He knew that people had found diamonds in South Africa, and he wanted to find some too. He travelled all over the country to search for diamonds. He lost his family, his home, everything in his mission to find diamonds. Meanwhile, the man who had bought his land and his home from him, found the largest diamond ever! We can spend valuable time wishing we were like someone else, and all the time we have our own treasures right here inside of us the whole time…just waiting to be discovered.

By being yourself, you put something wonderful into the world that wasn’t there before. Learn from others & grow, but we’re our best when we’re being ourselves. Each of us is one of a kind, precious, priceless. We can’t be replaced.

When God made you, he threw out the mold.

A lot of young girls today look in the mirror, and rather than seeing the amazing, loved, one-of-a-kind creation that they are, they see a loser. Maybe this is you. If so, don’t believe this lie anymore. Some people might think this is arrogant, but it isn’t. Being humble is being strong. Being humble is not pretending you don’t have any gifts, its using the gifts that God has given you. Being arrogant is when you don’t use your gifts. If someone is hurt and you are a doctor, being humble isn’t saying “oh no, I can’t do it. I’m not good enough.” No, you must use the gifts God has given you as a doctor to help them.

You are worth something. In fact, you are worth so much that I can’t even find anything to compare it to!

Psalm 45 says ‘The beautiful princess, the royal daughter, is glorious. She is dressed in a gown woven with gold. She wears the finest clothes. Her friends follow her into the royal palace. What a joyful, enthusiastic, excited occasion as they enter the palace! She comes before the King who delights in her.’

You are God’s princess. The Bible says that we are God’s children, that we are his heirs. God is the king of the entire universe, which makes us his princesses. When you realize that you have a crown on your head, you live your life differently. You value your life differently. Walking around with a cross face doesn’t suit the crown on your head! Yelling and lying don’t suit the crown on your heads.

‘Never forget… your value… far above rubies and pearls.’ Proverbs 31:10

To keep you on everyone ‘good side’! Click the above link.

In spite of this fact, many families are steeling themselves for what they may anticipate to be a potentially stressful jaunt from Point A to Point B. The song of the south and the promise of sunshine to ease away the winter blues is just too hard to resist. With March Break around the corner moms and dads, tickets in hand, are anxious to find ways of traveling with their children with the least amount of stress possible.

Like any parent worth their salt, I too have fretted and stressed about the prospect of vacationing with young children in tow. In my case, my youngest are toddler twin boys, so one can understand the fear that a meltdown of double proportions may bring.

Having just returned from Orlando, Florida, after visiting with my kids, I can attest to the fact that travel with children can be done. Beyond maintaining a steely resolve, there are some more practical tactics that parents can employ to assure a good time. Here are my top five tips for traveling with kids:

1) Be Flexible — As much as you may want to try to stick to a schedule, it may very well not be realistic, so be prepared to go with the flow in a manner of speaking, in order to have the best time with your family. This means that if you need to let your kids stay up later, or skip a nap or two, that’s okay. It also means the rules that are maintained at home e.g. food choices and bedtimes may be set aside for the sake of a good time.

2) Be Prepared – For anything. For a rainy day, or for a sunny afternoon. For the former, have plans to visit indoor locales in your city of choice so that your time away isn’t wasted. For the latter, sunstroke and/or a nasty sunburn has ruined many a family vacation, so make sure to slather the SPF protection on you and your kids before you head out for your day at the theme park or beach.

3) Have a Plan — In this day and age of Google, there’s ample opportunity to research your destination well before you get on the plane. Plan and map out your course of action for each day of your vacation, using such tools as Google Maps and Google Streetview to get a feel for where you’ll be going with the kids. Include them in your planning so that they feel prepared and excited about your vacation. By the time you actually arrive, they’ll be pumped and ready to explore their vacation locale.

4) Travel Light — For many reasons, you will want to keep your luggage as light as possible when venturing on your family vacation. If you’re like me, shopping at the outlet malls and brining back great deals is a much anticipated part of travel, so that’s one of the many reasons to take it easy on the packing. Think through what you and your kids will be doing on each day (see tip #3)

5) Wear Comfortable Shoes! Regardless of where you’re heading, nothing is more aggravating than a good time cut short due to aching feet. If you’re beach-bound, bring both sandals or flip-flops as well as closed-toe rubber-soled shoes. Ditto for days at the theme parks and various sites. Dealing with aching feet and frayed nerves (especially those of the younger set) can really put a damper on your holiday fun.

-Samantha Kemp Jackson’s blog at http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/samantha-kempjackson

• Do I have to invite everyone in my child’s class?
  No. But you should try to be discreet about it. Assemble the guest list with your child; she’ll have a good idea about her class’ social dynamics. Drop off or mail the invitations, don’t let your child distribute them in class and discourage her from talking about the party at school.
• We “should” invite more kids than I can handle at the party. What should I do?
  Plan a play date or outing at another time with different groups of kids. For example, if your 1st grader has friends from school and a soccer team plus a few cousins, limit the party to the school friends and family, then plan an outing to a pizza parlor or sporting event with the team for a separate day.
• Can I call people who don’t RSVP to find out if they’re coming?
  Absolutely. Don’t let others’ bad manners spoil your party. On the other hand, don’t use the phone call as an opportunity to share an etiquette lesson. Find out what you need to know and save any snide remarks until after you’ve hung up the phone.
• Are competitive games a bad idea?
  Not necessarily. They’ve stood the test of time, most kids know the rules, and they’re fun. The key is to make sure no one goes home empty-handed, and that the winners’ prizes aren’t outrageous, like that one special toy everyone wants to have.
• One of the guests is being a complete brat. What should I do?
  Be as positive as you can be. The combination of excitement and sugar can be too much for some kids. Try to distract the child with a task or make him feel special with extra attention. If other parents are there, you could ask one of them to take him under her wing. If niceness fails, pull him aside and warn him that you’ll have to call his parents to take him home if he won’t behave.
• What should I do with my other child during the birthday party?
  Siblings can present a challenge at a party. Sometimes the best option is to plan a day for your other child with a friend somewhere else. However, if a sibling will attend the party, invite a friend of hers to keep her entertained. Avoid letting an older sibling simply stay in her room during the party it can encourage bad manners and contribute to jealous feelings.
• What if my child hates a present?
  This problem can be neatly circumnavigated by not opening gifts at a party. The trend is toward that anyway it saves time, guest jealousy, and protects everyone from the embarrassment of your child’s true reaction to an unwanted present.
• My child received four identical gifts. Can I ask other parents for the receipts so I can exchange them?
  Not really. Practical parents may include a gift receipt with the package. If you know the person well you may be able to discuss it without offending her, but it’s better to err on the side of politeness. Many stores will accept a return for store credit without a receipt, so try that first. But if that doesn’t work, stash it on the shelf for a spare in case the first one breaks.
• Are thank-you notes necessary?
  Absolutely. It teaches responsibility, politeness, and consideration for others, as well as gives your child an excellent writing and creativity exercise. The notes don’t have to be long or detailed, but should thank the gift-giver for their attendance at the party, their gift, and mention something specific she likes about it.
• I’m accompanying my child to a party. What should I do when I’m there?
  Let the host set the tone. Offer to help, but if she says no, leave her alone. If she doesn’t give you specific directions, act as a helpful yet unobtrusive chaperone. Be sure to ask before you use anything, especially the stove, changing table, highchair, etc. Also, keep consistent with the host’s rules and exercise common sense to help protect the guests and party area.

Creating a profile

The first question to ask yourself is “Why am I even here?”Figuring out why you’re on a site, and what you’ll use it for, will help you know how you want to manage your site. That being said, you should understand that putting yourself out on these sites means you will be found, sought out, or accidentally stumbled upon. Employers, University admissions officers, and family members are some of the people who could search you out and view your site, so think twice about what you post. Scantily clad women, grotesque but funny jokes, or explicit lyrics are all things you may not want associated with yourself in the world beyond your peers.

Approving and denying friends

Yay! Someone wants to be your friend! Now the question is, “Who are they?” If this is someone you know (and you wish to), by all means accept them. If you are unsure of who they are, opt to send them a message asking how they know you, and know that this is perfectly acceptable to do. Depending on how you feel about the response, you can choose to accept or deny their request. Ignoring a friend’s request blocks the person from being able to make the request again until you accept or decline the original request. While you don’t need to send an explanation, common courtesy suggests otherwise. For example, “I’m sorry Sally, I’m so glad you want to be my friend, however I make it a rule for myself that I don’t put coworkers up on my site. I hope you can understand.” Whatever your reason, understand that this might cause issues in your off-line relationship with this person.

Communicating with your network of friends

On all these sites, you have the opportunity to interact with your friends, view their sites, post comments about their photos, and send them messages. The biggest “bear in mind” is that what you put out there can be viewed or manipulated. Even a message which, like an e-mail, won’t get posted on your friend’s site, can still be copied and pasted or forwarded. That being said, posting “Happy Birthday,” sending invites, making plans, and catching up are all appropriate ways to communicate with your network of friends. Dealing with the content of friends’ sites Technically on friending sites, you are not supposed to post any photos, forwards, emails, or documents without permission from the people involved, but beware, there isn’t anything stopping others from posting such things on their sites. If your friend posts something that involves you that you’re uncomfortable with, politely request that they remove it. “Hey Jim, some of my coworkers are in my network of friends, I’d appreciate it if you took down the picture of us from the bar Friday night. Thanks for understanding.”

“De-Friending”

You may find a time when it is necessary to de-friend – your list is too big, you’ve had a falling-out/break-up, or someone has been harassing or bothering you. It is definitely okay to unfriend someone you no longer feel comfortable being connected with. Most sites don’t send a person a message if you unfriend them – their friend count simply goes down by one – but check the FAQs first to be sure that your technology matches your intent.

A meal together doesn’t have to be dinner. Maybe breakfast on weekends can offer the opportunity for a meal together. During the week breakfast might be a piece of toast, some juice and an apple or banana on the way out the door. But on a weekend – everyone can sleep in a little and then sit down together to a stack of pancakes, syrup, bacon, juice, hot chocolate, and a dish of fruit. Take the time to share plans for the day, rehash the week just past, and figure out what’s going on in each other’s lives. It can be a special way to start the day.

Teach, don’t reprimand.
It’s easy to assume that your child is purposely using bad manners, when in fact he just needs a lesson or two. Be specific when you teach your child, and remember that many follow-up lessons will be necessary. So, instead of saying, “Don’t be so rude!” you can respond this way, “It’s impolite to burp at the table, but if you do, it’s proper to say ‘excuse me’.”

Rephrase.
When your child states her feelings in a less-than-polite way, you can rephrase what she’s already said in the way you find acceptable. So if she says, “Yuck! I hate this green stuff!” You can politely correct her by saying, “What I’d like to hear you say is, ‘I don’t like spinach’.”

Tell what you DO want.
When your child is displaying bad manners avoid nagging about the problem, “Don’t yell in the house!” Instead, teach what you DO want, “Please use a quiet voice.” This method will keep you more calm and in control, and will give your child an instruction to follow.

Accept mistakes.
When kids are young they will spill and drop. It takes time to acquire the motor skills necessary to be neat and tidy. Children will make social blunders. It takes maturity to learn how to act in social situations. Accept age-appropriate mistakes for what they are: simple childishness.

Correct privately.
As annoying as your child’s lack of manners may be, resist the urge to reprimand him in front of other people.

Prepare in advance.
Whether you are planning a visit to a friend’s home, a night out at the movies or dinner at a restaurant, take time before you go to coach your child on the behavior you expect. Review the “rules” of good manners and you’ll more likely experience a pleasant time.

Expect good manners.
When you know your child has learned the proper way to behave it’s important to expect those good manners. For example, if you’ve reminded your six-year-old to say ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’ since he was two, you should expect him to apply what he’s learned. Be consistent. Require good manners every day. Remind gently. And over time you’ll find your children turning into proper ladies and gentlemen.

Are kids ruder today than they used to be?

There is an increasing concern with how kids and young adults behave in public, in school and on the job.

I think the kids who behave in ways we consider rude and disrespectful create a bad name for all kids. Their behaviour makes such a negative impression, we lose sight of the of kids who are working their way through difficult times.

• What parents do and how they behave has significant influence on what their kids do.
• The values kids learn at home are either reinforced or contradicted in schools and in the media. Part of the work for parents is to help their kids sort out those contradictions.
• In this incredibly busy world, parents don’t make the time to be intentional about teaching the manners we use to show. Respect, consideration and honesty.
• I believe we do our kids a great disservice if we do not help them appreciate that they are not the only/most important person in this world and that treating others in a manner that shows we believe they are important is at the core of strong relationships.

I believe it is a good thing that people are expressing concern about kids and rudeness.

The manners and principles of good etiquette are learned behaviours. We are not born knowing the things to do to show respect. We learn them. Perhaps the concern we see about kids and rudeness will move parents towards intentionally teaching these values.

People are concerned, but let’s act on that concern. Each one of us has the capacity to act in respectful and considerate ways. Let’s get the ripple going in the right direction and start with our own kids.