GIVEAWAY!

So I've got daughters right? You've probably picked up on that ... And as everyone will tell you (even those without girls, hell even those without kids - everyone), one of the funnest things about having girls is dressing them.
Fun, but not always easy if you're looking for something beyond the standard pink 'n frilly branded fare. So how much do we love this:

Made by the lovely Little Fire Company, Miranda is offering a reader this cutie-patootie little set for the lively fire fly in your life. My girls are loving a flouncy skirt this summer, and I'm sure yours will too!

Right, rules:
1. This giveaway is open to anyone (as in we will ship anywhere). We're global like that.
2. To enter you need to 'Like' the Little Fire Company and C is for Cape Town on facebook and then email me at cisforcapetown[at]gmail.com confirming you've done that.
(Psst, y'all know when emailing to use the @ sign right? The silly brackets thing above is just to avoid spambots. Don't tell them okay?)
3. Competition closes 30 November and a winner will be drawn that weekend.

The little set is available in size 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, 5-6, 6-7.

All Little Fire Company goodies (there's SO much more than clothing) can be purchased from their website, and Miranda will be at the following pre-Christmas markets in and around Cape Town too ... the Doilie Market at our favourite Little Stream Restaurant this Saturday, 25 November, and Cavendish Square's Made in the Cape market on the first weekend in December. She also has an open morning at her Observatory studio on the 2nd Saturday of every month.

Spread the word, like the stuff, win the things!

GIVEAWAY CLOSED - WE HAVE A WINNER! Thanks everyone who played along.

muizenbosch: outdoor films in muizenberg

There's so much still to discover about our new 'hood - places to see, food to eat, friends to make and not least of all: events to attend!
The first Muizenbosch outdoor film screening happened while we were all in fug from the 'flu but this time ... this time I wanna be there!

Taking place on Saturday 1 December on the Muizenberg Public Pool field next to the Putt-Putt course from  7-9 pm the venue promises to be wind-protected and safe with loads of easy, free parking, hot dog vendors on hand and even a playground next door for kiddies with ants in their pants.

And what's screening? Well that remains to be seen ... local film company Substance Films is curating this one and they've put out a call for filmmakers to submit their work for consideration. Doccies, dramas, shorts, animation, music videos, the theme is 'In Love with Local' so if it's Cape Town and it's good: send it in!

Here's the promo, you got the info, bring your R30 per adult (under 13 free) and come watch a fliek under the stars on the lawn next to the beach ... in my new 'hood.

one city block: east city

I had half an hour to kill in Cape Town's fabulous East City district during the week. This is the part of Cape Town instrumental in winning us the 2014 Design Capital bid over a year ago, and with good reason.

In one short block, 30 minutes and 50+ photos I came across more creativity then I could properly absorb. Here are some of the highlights ...

World famous Charly's Bakery.

Someone at Charly's was clearly having a less-than-awesome day ...

I couldn't see a tag on this, anyone know whose it is?

Funny little car.

Magnificent Woodheads.

Funny big car.

One of Faith 47's masterpieces. She is genius.

Home of the magnificent Design Team. How lovely is this building?

And just as lovely on the inside.

So much beauty in just one tiny corner of this lovely city. Cape Town, you inspire me endlessly...

fear factor

I caught a little bit of a fascinating talk on the Redi Thlabi Show about the different roles mothers and fathers play in their children's lives. It was interesting because her guest (whose name I didn't get!) had some pretty unique and fresh input, more than the staid 'mothers teach you to nurture and fathers to throw a ball' kind of crap.

One of my best things was he said that an important role of fathers is to teach their daughters to be fearless. He expanded: fearless to hammer a nail/ trust a man/ jump off a high rock/ stand by her convictions/ argue a point/ be vulnerable/ be pretty.
And then I got to where I was going and had to turn the radio off. I wish I could have carried on listening.

But I've been thinking about it a lot since.

I think Husband's doing pretty well on this. He gave Friday the fearlessness to take on that big swing, and she regularly enjoys a little adrenalin rush on the back of his bike (in the road outside our house, going really slowly...).

She's proving to be strong and confident pushing herself off on a borrowed paddle-ski last weekend with nary a fear or hesitation.

It does my heart proud to see my girls being courageous. And I think I'm not bad at encouraging their bravado myself.

There's a very steep pedestrian bridge near our house and it was on my watch that the girls started careening down it on their black plastic pushbikes, screeching down at heart-stopping speeds all screams of delight and burning rubber off the soles of their sneakers, drawing appreciative glances from the teenage skate-boarders milling around.
I was thrilled with my little daredevils.

Ironically though the first time their father witnessed this activity he was horrified. As the girls flew down the bridge towards us he couldn't look - crouching on the ground covering his face babbling about skin grafts and hospital stays.
I was forthwith stripped of my title of Super Cool Mum and instead branded Negligent Parent of the Week, and a new rule was decreed:
Helmets!

I guess it's all about finding that balance between their fearlessness and our own ...

toilet roll crowns

Like a princess in a fairy tale, a cardboard toilet roll rises from its humble beginnings to become a bejeweled and wondrous thing of beauty ...

I loved these teeny-weeny crowns since I first saw them on Pinterest, and now the girls do to. We started off just making a couple for them to play around in, but got into full production mode for a recent family birthday gathering.

I don't have enough decent in-process shots but I can tell you they're super easy to make - cut rolls, paint rolls, bejewel rolls, tie elastic - and give you one helpful tip: clip a laundry peg to the roll to make a handle while painting it.

Ta-dah!

Ridiculously small, ridiculously cute, we're starting to think about themed ones for Christmas Day ...

girls will be boys will be girls will be boys

I've been fretting recently about how often I notice mothers saying 'Oh, you're such a boy' to their sons. As we know I don't have sons so this is possibly one of those things I should just leave alone ... but, just briefly, I won't.

I don't like gender bias as a rule, and it makes me particularly uncomfortable when people do it to kids. What does 'such a boy' even really mean?

We all know what 'such a girl' means. And that's why I never say it. There's a negative connotation right? An implication of softness, or squeamishness, or (horror) being over-emotional.
I don't say to my girls, when they're dressed all in pink or pushing dolls around in prams or freaking out 'cos they got duck poo on their feet, 'Oh, you're such a girl.' Just as I wouldn't say it to them when they're smashing rocks (ja, all those pretty rocks ...) or kicking a ball around the lawn or pulling wings off flies.
And when they're being unreasonable, or farting in public, or punching each other I certainly won't say 'Don't be such a boy', although I've had mothers admit to saying the opposite to their sons when they've thought they're being 'girlie'.

Yes, I have been intrigued to see how my youngest girl has embraced dolls and playing 'baby' since she could just crawl, I watch in equal parts fascination and horror as my 5 year old totally falls for the pink marketing so rife out there. No doubt if I had a son I'd be as amazed to observe his undeniably male character traits, and I'm sure I'd be proud of his boisterous bravado, or ability to quietly play Lego for hours (I'm particularly disappointed to never experience that one!), but I like to think I'd never voice his gender specificity to him directly.
I like to think I'm conscious about not engaging in any gender stereo-typing when talking to the girls at all (although out of their earshot I've been known to accuse my husband of 'screaming like a girl' - the spiders in this house are really, really scary!).

But maybe this is a concern for mothers of girls more than those with boys. Maybe this is purely my baggage about the world they're entering and the optimistic belief, like so many mothers before me, that somehow what I instill in my daughters before leaving home will reflect in the world they'll inhabit. That maybe this generation will be the one to experience a different gender paradigm.
Maybe this is all my own hey-sho-wow hope that if we don't pigeon-hole our kids at home they'll be freer to be themselves in the world? Girls can be tough and boys can be soft. Hurling rocks at ducks is not 'being a boy', pretending to change the nappy of the same rock not 'being a girl'.
Maybe our kids can just be kids and deal with all this complex gender crap as it comes, 'cos it will, without any prodding from their mothers.

When discussing this with my husband however, his parting shot was this, 'So what do you think the long term effects of calling them 'disgusting creatures' will be? Because you seem to do that pretty often.'

Oh, oops.

help the rural child

I grew up a rural child going on holiday in rural places, and remember too well the snotty-nosed, barefoot kids we'd see everywhere. Walking impossibly long miles to school and wearing ragged school shorts year in and out, these kids were far more tangible evidence of our privilege than the 'starving children of Ethiopia' which parents liked to tote in front of their children during the '80's.

And tragically, not much has changed. Under-privileged children in rural areas are still as poor, as barefoot, as snotty-nosed as they were 30+ years ago. They still live in derelict labourers cottages on farms and tiny hamlets, they still walk long miles with hungry tummies to schools shamefully under-staffed and under-equipped.
They're not as evident to us city-dwellers as street kids and strollers, street-wise and stroppy. But the rural child is out there, and they need our help.

Which brings me to one of our favourite places. Help the Rural Child.

This is the Mowbray shop - clothing and bric-a-brac downstairs, books upstairs on many levels of winding, intriguing wooden floors. The children's room right at the top, a tiny attic room reminiscent of many a fairy tale - the perfect place to house a wealth of stories.

We spent lots of time here when we were living in Observatory, and bought many a treasure home. From the bookshop, old favourites from my youth and copies of adult novels I'd read and loved but didn't really want to pay full bookstore price for. Many an afternoon was spent reading there.
In the bric-a-brac shop I found shot glasses to match a random pair we'd had for ever (What? Doesn't everyone have shot glasses?), little heart-shaped candle holders to brighten a birthday table. Board games and baskets and antique linens.
And when we were sorting through our stuff while packing, the Rural Child was the recipient of many a black bag - the staff there humbling me with their gratitude for what I regarded as random crap!

So imagine how pleased we are to find a branch near our new home!

On Main Road, Kirstenhof, (the bric-a-brac shop is down the road in Retreat, I've not yet been - can't wait!), we've already spent many a happy hour there. The girls love to sit and read, I love to browse, the staff are welcoming and friendly, the air is calm and delightfully bookish. We like it there.
And we shop, one book each for the girls and a slowly growing collection of books for gifts - Christmas, birthdays, I love giving books and quite honestly, I'm finding nicer ones here then in commercial book stores.

I know some people feel iffy about second-hand. But if the book, or story, is beautiful, the price is right, the lesson is the sustainability of giving something a new life, and the beneficiary is a child who needs so much, then I can't think of a gift which ticks all the spirit-of-Christmas boxes better.

AND all books are 20% off until this Saturday!

Help the Rural Child, support these stores (there's another branch in Sea Point), and visit the website to find all the other ways you can help too.

observatory bucket list

Before leaving Obs a few months (or was it a lifetime?) back, I made myself a 'bucket list' (loathe the term) of shops, restaurants, places of interest I wanted to visit, and revisit, before we moved.
Then in the chaos of moving and subsequent weeks with no internet access (once again a big fat Up Yours to Telkom on that one), I completely forgot to post it!

But I think it's still relevant, and as I find myself back there at least once a week now, looking at that beautiful and crazy suburb with new (possibly more appreciative?) eyes, I quite enjoyed revisiting the list of revisits and reminding myself why I just hated to love the place so much for all those years.

Number 1: Have tea & cake at Queen of Tarts

Number 2: Trawl Munro's 2nd Hand Shop
Text borrowed from Cape Town Magazine 'cos they say it all best:
Owned by Mr Munro, this junk shop on Lower Main Road in Observatory will give you the feeling that you’re looking thorough someone else’s attic. The shelves are stocked with vintage finds galore: from old-school kitchen equipment to dusty paintings that may need to be reframed. Also available is more basic second-hand furniture, such as bookshelves, desks and tables.
Best for: Quirky objects from another time, whether it’s an ancient snow globe or antique spoons.
Price range: Affordable.
Opening hours: Monday-Friday: 9am – 5pm; Saturday: noon – 3pm. 
131 Main Rd | Observatory | Cape Town |  +27 (0)21 447 1852

Number 3: Stock up at Fargo Trading
The best stockist of spices, basmati rice, poppadums, oils, coconut milk, pink Himalayan rock salt, Smarties in bulk, baking chocolate, crisps, couscous, fish sauce ... the list is endless.

Number 4: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups at Komati Foods
By god I ate too many of these while packing ...

Number 5: Milnerton Market (again and again and again). Although not actually in Observatory, it very well could be!

Number 6: Stock up with art supplies at Artsource

Despite having the most boring website (can I even call it that?) in the world this is one of the best art supply shops you'll find in Cape Town. Catering for professional artistes and kiddie crafters alike, Artsource was a pleasure to visit and the Perfect Source of endless birthday gifts, both given and received.

Number 7: Pancakes from Crespella

And so, so much more. Love you Observatory!

found in my hood

Good to know right?

dinosaur cake

My brother and father both have birthdays this week, and this year their combined age is 100! We begged volunteered to bake them a cake and Friday, completely lacking in irony, declared it would be dinosaur themed.
And then proceeded to art direct the crap out of it.

No cut-out dinosaur shaped cake (as envisioned by me), nope - she very specifically brought home this dinosaur picture from school and declared that we'd use it for the shape 'on top of the cake Mum'. 
And in the bank of buy-by-weight candy in the supermarket she honed in on these chocolate-covered sunflower seeds for being 'just the right dinosaur colours'.

All I was to do was to provide the sheet cake (baked, I must add, almost entirely by Sunday who's become an ace at cracking eggs - although her two year old tactile sensitivity still makes her shriek after every addition 'Clof! Clof Mummy! Egg on haaaaaaand!')

She was even allowed to assist in the decor, while big sister hovered by.

Not bad huh? I shudder with fear that soon I may have to relinquish full control over their own birthday cakes.

With some flaked almond 'spines' and a single candle eye, Dino was ready to face extinction on my Mum's pretty birthday tea table.

Happy hundredth birthday lovely men in my life!