Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
It has been another busy week behind the scenes 28 January 2022, but a really good week. Things are picking up nicely with work and the school year is in full swing. All back to school madness has calmed down now that all the books have been covered, everything has been bought and the kids are now in a good school time routine again. I’m also loving having some time to myself in the mornings after the festive season.
***Disclosure -The links in this post may contain affiliate links and I may receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on a link.***
Therific Ideas
It was amazing having Theri Rossouw from Therific Ideas join me live to talk about Kiddy-Calm products and RainDough PlayDough – both are fantastic products for kids and even for adults too!
I’ve been a huge fan of Kiddy-Calm since my daughter was a baby and I was an agent for their products for a few years in Langebaan. Kiddy-Calm is magnesium sulphate bath salts, manufactured in South Africa. They come in a range of colours, each with their own scent, and they make bubbles in the bath.
Magnesium Sulphate is a well-known remedy for many ailments, including assisting kids to sleep better and be more calm. It can help with growing pains and be used as a detox bath.
There is also an adult range called Mai-Thaim for adults, as well as Pure-Thaim which has no colour, scent or bubbles making it safe for pregnant women, young babies and anyone that has sensitive skin or eczema.
RainDough was developed by Jenna (Theri’s 10 year old daughter) and it took off like crazy and became too much for Jenna to handle on her own. It is now managed by the whole family. RainDough is a range of scented, glitter playdough that is hand made using top quality, non-toxic, food grade ingredients.
There are so many amazing benefits related to playing with playdough and in the live video (above) Theri takes us through some of those benefits for kids as well as some great activities to do with your kids using playdough.
SnapnSave
I started using SnapnSave last week – a fantastic app for getting money back on my everyday purchases. There are various offers available in the app for getting cash back and it is simple and quick to book an offer and redeem it by snapping your till slip. I’ve already redeemed R92.80 through the app and requested my first payout to my bank account which is pending.
There are new offers all the time and I was so happy to find so many things that I buy regularly on the app such as bread, milk, eggs, apples, mangoes, carrots and more. I love saving money.
I will be writing a review on it soon when I have had more time to play around with it. Use my coupon code moyo010 when you .
Chores & Routine
One of the things that really tripped me up last year when I got so burnt out was trying to do everything myself and not being very organized when it comes to my kids chores and routine.
At the beginning of this year I decided that as soon as my kids started school I would make sure to get a good routine going as well as including chores and taking another look at my kids’ reward system that I use.
The thing is that it can be so hard to manage my kids and ensure that they do things the right way that I usually land up doing things myself since it is quicker and less work. The result is that I do too much.
I won’t lie – it has been brutal trying to get them to do things the right way and I was exhausted beyond belief the first week. However it is now starting to get easier.
I made a chore chart for the family with both of my kids getting two kitchen duty days. They also get one laundry day, one laundry day for their own bedding and one day where they do the laundry together.
In addition to this I have set new rules with regards to screen time and I have also implemented a new rule where I check everything that has been done properly before I allow them to use screens.
The first few days I had to call each of them back multiple times to tidy up or do something properly, but they are now learning that if they don’t do something properly the first time they will just keep at it until it is right so they are listening better and very often doing it right the first time.
I’m still in the process of ironing out some of these things, but so far so good and it is running smoothly I will share some more about it.
Great Giveaways Running On My Blog
I’ve got some amazing giveaways running on my blog – there is a Happy Event body butter hamper, a Nova Choc-Oh-Late hamper and a Hada Labo Tokyo hamper up for grabs. Check out my competitions page to enter and to check past winners.
Play-Doh
This week I received an awesome hamper from Play-Doh with fantastic activities to do with your kids. I unboxed the hamper in my live video. Check out the press release from Play-Doh about shaping imaginations for the future.
Period Panties
The last thing I had to organize to prepare my daughter for menstruation was to buy her period panties. They arrived this week and I unboxed the delivery in my live video. Getting ready for this important milestone is something that I have been putting a lot of focus on since my daughter turned 10 last year and I don’t want her to be caught by surprise.
The period panties are marketed by some as a menstrual product on its own, something to use instead of a pad or tampon. However this is not the purpose I bought it for since the idea of only wearing panties without another menstrual product does not appeal to me personally. I purchased these panties for my daughter to wear while out and about, particularly for school, so that she is not caught unprepared for her period while at school. It is to ensure that she has no embarrassing leaks and has time to get to a bathroom if her period starts.
So far they look amazing, the quality looks good and they fit her perfectly. I bought a pack of 4 from from Amazon and paid in total $35.07 including delivery and import taxes. In ZAR it worked out to about R560 which is R140 per pair which sounds like a lot but they cheapest ones I could find in South African stores were R250 per pair.
My daughter wanted them in black only, a good choice of panties that are intended to be bled on, however there are lots of other colour options. Click here to check them out on Amazon.
Weekend Baking Fun
I’ve made Sunday my day for baking new treats which has made my family oh so happy. Last week I made a malva pudding that came out really well. This afternoon I’m going to be baking some chocolate muffins (with cocoa not chocolate chips) since my daughter is having a playdate with her bestie. On Sunday I will be making the pineapple marshmallow tart my husband has been begging me to make him for years. I will share those recipes as soon as I can!
Ysense
My earnings goal for January was $200 and I’m clearly not going to make it, however I do feel that was a bit of an optimistic goal since my amount earned for December was $120.80 (R1884.16). I’m still happy with my January earnings to date of $145.78 (R2273.78) and I still have a few more days to add to that amount.
I’ve cashed out most of my earnings to my bank account (via Paypal or Payoneer) but I also cashed out some income to Amazon gift cards and that is how I paid for the period panties I mentioned above. So although they cost me R560 I didn’t feel it since it came directly from my Ysense earnings!
Read my Ysense review to learn about Ysense and my top tips for increasing your Ysense income. To sign up to Ysense click here.
