Flowerfree and her Grandma (Oumi)

I suppose when most people think about their mother-in-law their first thought aren't a positive one.

I must say that I am blessed with a very special mother-in-law and amazing grandmother for my two daughters, especially Flowerfree.

Evidence of this was yet again seen a week ago when she visited her grandma (or Oumi as she calls her) for almost a fortnight. I didn't hear anything from them for almost a week, so by the 5th day I emailed Oumi asking how it was going there. She replied with a few words and the following photos:

Flowerfree painting.

Helping Oumi fill containers with sugar and oats.

Getting all the 'shine'.

Flowerfree found Oumi's jewelry case and decorated herself accordingly.

All dressed up to play outside. 

Shopping with Oumi at the "pumpkin"-store.

What is nicer than having some tea and biscuits in our room?
- almost like room service

As you can see, someone was having a REAL good time! And when I saw the photos I realised why Flowerfree LOVED visiting her grandma: except for the obvious (after all it is her grandmother!).

Both Flowerfree and her grandma have the same love for art and CREATING things! My MIL (mother-in-law) has the most wonderful talents - painting, pottery, crafts, needlework... the list goes on. 

Creating something out of nothing comes as second nature to her and she is constantly busy making 'MacGuyver-plans' for every problem in and around the house.

Then there is Flowerfree who also LOVES creating. Any and all types of creating - crafts, building things, drawing and painting, dressing up, decorating, exhibiting, the list goes on... 

Just look at this table exhibition she made and how she decorated the shelves in her room:

Btw: I will HAVE to do another post on these exhibitions of Flowerfree. She's been making them since she's 18months old and some are just unbelievable! We've been taking photos of them to have some evidence before having to break up and pack everything away again.

I must admit, this is a true unique talent she has.

A house that Flowerfree and Oumi built and decorated.

Please share if your child also has some unique thing they do or talent they have!

So if you don't have the best experiences with your MIL, perhaps the solution is finding a common interest for you both or at least between her and your child. You might be surprised at the result.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. – Colossians 3:23-24

Have a great week!

Mrs. Z

Lead your children, but also take the lead from them

I was supposed to have posted this LAST week already, but have been kept busy by my clients. So here we are a week later.

Being a working-from-home-mom means having to keep HappyFish intellectually occupied for as long as possible so I can get on with my designing. Which means finding clever ways to let her entertain herself;  taking the lead and inventing activities that I know she'll like. But MOST of the time it only means taking lead from her as she demonstrated once again on Thursday morning.

Being in front of my mac I heard my 14 month old playing with some marbles and went to check that none were being swallowed or put in her mouth at all. She was however only rolling them around, putting them in a container, taking them out again and just having an overall blast.

This inspired me to take the lead and I take her enjoyment to the "next level". I went to the kitchen and fetched an empty egg carton holder (I knew it would come in handy some time!). 

This way she can "sort" the marbles in different compartments.

At first I felt REALLY chuffed with myself, being so clever... but then, within a minute or two (in fact the time it took to take these photos), she lost interest completely and went back to fiddling with the container.

She seemed invested! 

So I quickly took the last couple of photographs and got back to my mac. She was having so much fun and I would be able to get some quality design-time. What a win-win morning!

Lesson learned: give constructive lead to your children, but also take their lead and let them play, grow and have fun without trying to be too constructive. 

I'm sure they (and you!) will thank you for it.

Till next time - keep leading by example!

Colossians 3: 23-24

Ballet makes you grow

It may sound strange, but ballet does have a positive influence on small growing bodies.

My parents signed me up for my first ballet class when I was 3. And I'm proud to say that my last class was around the age of 13. Not that I stopped dancing. I went on doing modern dancing, hip-hop, ballroom and LOVED it all!

The point however is what happened during those first 10 years of doing ballet. My confidence and discipline grew and as a bonus my body got transformed into a blossoming ballerina. I was standing up straight, had some nice calves and long hair (to get them into a perfect bun).

So when I saw FlowerFree's love for dance I decided that ballet will also be a great way to make her grow. And today was her first class! So exciting. I picked her up from daycare all dressed up in her pretty pink leotard, skirt, bobby shocks and fresh leather ballet shoes ready for action!

Normally parents aren't allowed to watch, but as today was the demo class we could take some photos and videos and I could see the right choice was made. She was loving every tippy toe and arm movement.

I can't wait to see how my little girl grows and transforms. I will keep you posted on this transformation.

Mrs Z

xxx

Wrapping it up

Well, actually it's a pun. And as the first post on my blog... also a little incorrect. I guess "opening up" would have been more accurate, but hey... it seemed to fit.

I recently posted a photo on facebook of how the Christmas wrapping paper we made came out and one of my friends suggested I started a blog. I have thought about doing this before, but never seemed to have either the inspiration or right material to get it going. Her suggestion however gave me some kind of vision and while taking a shower that night I started to think of some names for my blog. And HO-HO-HO "Hello Mrs. Zebra" was born that night, two days shy of Christmas day. (Read more about where the idea for the name came from under "About the name".)

But now... to get back to the wrapping paper.

There are so many positives to making your own.
1. You can keep the kids busy

2. It's very cost-effective

3. It's a wonderful creative outlet and SO MUCH FUN!

4. you make some good use of those old potatoes lying at the bottom of your veggie basket.

I will try to post again soon, but in the meantime... feel free to comment and add and share.

And have an absolute wonderfully blessed CHRISTmas!