Author: Waiki

10 Tips to keep your kids off their video games this summer

| Waiki

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I’ve seen a lot of posts on how to keep the kids entertained this summer but most are aimed at pre-schoolers. We have pre-teens who are totally addicted to their video games and who constantly need to be encouraged to do other things around the house or in the garden. They love watching gamers on Youtube and can’t wait to try out what they’ve ‘learned’… and before you know it, you have kids who become increasingly disconnected with ‘everyday family life’ and totally uninterested in anything that doesn’t involve some sort of technology.

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Two as One: Lessons learned in eleven years of marriage

| Waiki
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Two as One by Ryan and Selena Frederick – Available on Amazon. Click here.

 

This month was our wedding anniversary month. On 07.07.07 my husband Rom and I said “I do” in front of our friends and family. I was relatively young, emotionally fragile, wearing a white dress I probably shouldn’t have gone for… but in love nonetheless and determined to spend the rest of my life with this man I had met two years prior. And from that moment on, our lives changed for better.

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Grilled marinated sea bream ~ recipe

| Waiki

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This recipe is one of my absolute favourite fish dishes, great as a summer meal but also a very healthy option as it’s grilled in the oven (as opposed to fried). Marinated in a delicious mix of bell peppers, Lazy Garlic and Lazy Ginger and spices, the fish really absorbs all the flavours and tastes amazing with a side of rice, plantain, or sweet potatoes. Continue reading →

On raising a generation of babies born with cameras in their faces

| Waiki

20180626_165345 (1)How do you feel when you see photos of babies and young children on social media? Does it make you smile, or do you feel slightly uncomfortable? Being a mother of three children with a huge passion for the digital world and social media, these are questions I’ve asked myself on numerous occasions. And when it comes to my own children, the realisation that I have reached a point of no return in terms of my kids’ online presence wasn’t an easy one to face. Continue reading →

Garlic, lemon and herb grilled butterfly chicken ~ Recipe

| Waiki

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How to make the best chicken ever? The answer isn’t in the type of chicken you buy, the answer isn’t in the way you cook it, whether it’s grilled, fried, roasted… none of that matters. The answer isn’t even in the seasoning.

How to make the best chicken ever?

By letting it marinate for hours before you cook it; overnight if possible.

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Living and dining room tour

| Waiki

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It’s been a while since I’ve posted a mini house tour on my blog. My last one was a couple of years ago when we still lived in the duplex apartment.

We moved to a bigger house in March 2017 and it was our very first time moving into a blank canvas, completely unfurnished space. I was really exited about moving in, because I would finally be able to take on this little project of interior-designing our home from scratch, put my own ideas on paper and execute them all by myself. Needless to say the process was costly and stress-inducing, but Pinterest came to the rescue, as always, and we got there in the end. Continue reading →

And just like that, this mama is now running a business

| Waiki

I never thought I’d see this day. For many years, I have entertained the idea of starting my own business, without really taking the plunge. “I’m not much of a business person…” “It’s not for me”… “I can’t handle the workload, the accounting, HMRC demands, etc.” Well here I am today, doing all of these things, and totally winging it.

This is by far the most stress-inducing venture I’ve ever embarked on, but I’m convinced I’ll look back one day and smile. I’ll be happy that I took that leap of faith. Because honestly, faith is the only thing that made me go ahead with this. Continue reading →

Why so many of us fall out with our mothers during pregnancy

| Waiki

I was having a conversation with a friend recently about how volatile our emotions get during pregnancy, and how damaging this can be to our relationships with the people we love the most: our significant others, typically – but also our mothers. And today I’ll focus on our mothers. My friend, who also recently gave birth, could relate. I personally found it difficult to control my emotions during pregnancy and my loved ones endured quite a few of my meltdowns. They also witnessed the occasional fall out between my mother and I. Not surprisingly my main excuse for behaving the way I did towards her was the ‘hormones’. But what if there was more to it? What if there were other underlying issues that neither of us could really fix until the 9 months were over and we both took a step back to just enjoy the new baby? Here’s a little list of what I believe is the cause for these fall outs. Continue reading →

I did not go and see Black Panther at the cinema and here’s why

| Waiki

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“This movie looks amazing”, I thought, the first time I watched the trailer. It definitely caught my attention. The cast, the colours, the wardrobe… I can’t say I was left indifferent. And then the film came out. The excitement that ensued was palpable. Countless Twitter threads about the importance of Black Panther; an avalanche of think pieces about the narrative and how the African continent is being portrayed in the film… I didn’t come across a single bad review, a single negative comment. Okay, maybe a couple. But the general consensus seemed to be that Black Panther was the movie of the century, and the fact that it has just made over $1 billion worldwide is a pretty good indication of that. According to everyone, I just had to go and see it now. But here’s the thing… Continue reading →

Dinner at Kinkao ~ Review

| Waiki

A few weeks ago we celebrated my mother’s birthday at the Thai restaurant Kinkao, situated on the Isle of Dogs. The restaurant used to be called Elephant Royale and my family and I had visited on numerous occasions. They recently went through a rebrand and the restaurant is now under new management. The menu is completely different to what it used to be, but we weren’t disappointed with the options. Continue reading →

Unplanned and unassisted ~ You won’t believe my home birth story

| Waiki

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It’s 6.30am on December 11th and I’m now 40 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I wake up with what feels like contractions that are stronger than the pre-labour pains and Braxton Hicks contractions I’ve been feeling over the past few weeks. By that time, as you can imagine, my patience was starting to run out. No one likes to go overdue. I tell Rom that today may just be the day we meet our princess, because those contractions are getting stronger and occurring at regular intervals. My hospital bag is packed: a large suitcase for me and a beige travel bag for the baby, both waiting at the bottom of the stairs and ready to be thrown into the car at any moment.

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