Martha, a mother of three has stayed with her live-in house girl for a good solid 13 years! So what exactly has worked out for her (or rather both of them) that they’ve managed to stay together that long? She shares her experience in the video below. You can also watch it here. Watch and maybe you could pick a thing or two from her story. Also share this link with a fellow mom who could benefit from the information.
Mummy Talesis a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of womanhood and motherhood. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect with Mummy Tales on: FACEBOOK lYOU TUBE l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
Hi friends! Do you know of a mom who has a child with autism? What is their experience like? I know of one such mom -Alison Kiriinya, whose 6-year-old son is autistic. Alison frequently shares snippets of her life as an autism mom following her son’s diagnosis in April 2018 and today, I’ll link you up to a post where she highlights her experience.
“So at around 2 years old, my son had to be admitted because of an infection that was causing a high fever. It is when we were in the hospital that I realized that he was not speaking as well as he was supposed to and that his self-care milestones were a little delayed.
He got better and we were discharged, but I still kept observing him, hoping that the delays would self-rectify. They didn’t. Read the rest of Alison’s storyhere.
Please follow Alison’s blog, and if you know of a colleague, friend, sister, cousin, aunt, neighbor or anybody who has a child with autism, share Alison’s insights with them. Parenting is all about learning from each other. May you be encouraged by her journey.
Mummy Talesis a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of maternal and newborn health, as well as various issues surrounding motherhood and women. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect withMummy Tales on:YOUTUBE l FACEBOOK l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
Ezekiel Mutua, the Kenya Film Classification Board chief recently announced his banning of some secular songs ‘outside of bars and clubs’. This is because of the lewd lyrics contained in the songs -that have strong sexual undertones.
His move reminded me of a conversation I once had with some pals of mine. We were chatting over coffee in a café when the Tetema song began playing and one of us, Rachel, suddenly went on a rant.
“This song! Can you imagine last week, I walked into my house only to be greeted by my six-year-old daughter singing word-for-word that tetema song? She was even jumping up and kicking her legs in the air, then shaking her shoulders as she danced. From where did my innocent child learn the tetema lyrics and the accompanying obscene gyrating dance moves???” a visibly horrified Rachel exclaimed.
Rachel then told us that her first instinct was to dash to cover her daughters’ mouth with her hands to stop her from tetemaring.
But she was too shocked and just stood there staring at her daughter as she happily sang and danced to ‘oohhh mama tetema… aya twende tetema..’.
“Where did she learn those words from, because it’s certainly not in my house!” She added.
See, Rachel is a born-again Christian, plays gospel music in her home and in her car, goes to church faithfully and ensures her children attend Sunday School and VBS without fail, reads Bible stories with the kids at bedtime, attends BSF and basically leads the Godly life -the whole nine yards. So we believed her when she said that its highly unlikely her daughter heard the song in her house, or in her car. So where could have her daughter could have learned the words from? We discussed:-
The School Van
Turns out that many school vans play music while transporting the kids, so that was a possible avenue because her daughter does indeed use a hired van for her school transport. And the driver is a young dude, so most likely.
The Friends and Neighbors
Well, you may not play a certain type of music in your home, but your child does visit neighbors or cousins, and there’s a likelihood that in that house, that music is played.
The House Girl (and staying relatives)
It so happens that some house girls play trending, secular music on their phones, and they don’t mind the children watching the videos, singing along with them and even dancing to the music. This also applies to older nephews, nieces and other relatives who stay with you.
TV after School
After arriving home from school, most local TV channels air music shows -most of them (if not all), airing secular music. So as the kids are taking their snacks before they start on their homework, they are most likely watching Tetema and the like.
Matatus
Some children use public transport to and from school, and most don’t play gospel music. Some matatus even play radio discussions that are sooo uncomfortable for an adult’s ears, so you can only imagine the children and what they absorb through these widely broadcasted conversations.
So we told Rachel that of course, as parents we cannot control everything our children listen to, watch or do every single minute, but as parents, the best thing we can do is to guide them accordingly and empower them to always endeavor to be of good standing and character.
What are your thoughts about this issue? Have you ever heard your children waxing lyrical to a song which made you cringe? What did you do? Comment down below.
Mummy Talesis a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of maternal and newborn health, as well as various issues surrounding motherhood and women. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect withMummy Tales on:YOUTUBE l FACEBOOK l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
I love stories that warm my heart, and today, I’m happy to share the successful story of baby Jeremy 🙂
On 22nd March, 2019, Catherine Joy arrived at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) bleeding heavily, 22 weeks into pregnancy. The multidisciplinary team led by Dr. Barbara Magoha – Obstetrician, immediately commenced investigations to determine the cause of the bleeding at such early gestation. Dr. Magoha successfuly managed the condition, helping Catherine deliver a pre-term baby on 1st April 2019 at 24 weeks weeks. Baby Jeremy Tubula was born with a birth weight of 400gms.
The team at Kenyatta Prime Care Centre newborn unit, led by Neonatologist Dr. Miriam Karanja took over the care of baby Jeremy Tubula and on Wednesday 28 August 2019, he was discharged from hospital weighing 3.5kg.
The KNH CEO Dr. Evanson Kamuri (speaking in the video below) said that baby Jeremy responded well to care and treatment for the five months he was in the newborn unit. He was optimistic that Jeremy would go on to lead a healthy and long life.
In 2011, KNH neonatal specialists successfully nurtured a baby born weighing 400gms, the first case in the history of Kenya. Baby Hope who is a strong and jovial eight-year old girl now was among the guests at the press conference. Baby Jeremy’s parents are happy and expressed their gratitude to God and KNH specialists and nurses who took care of their baby. They are grateful that they finally get to take their baby home to lead a normal life like babies born at full-term. –Source: Kenyatta National Hospital.
Baby Jeremy’s story is so heart-warming. Join me in praying for good health and God’s favor upon the life of baby Jeremy and his family. We also remember in our prayers all other babies who are right now in newborn units and their parents. May God see them through.
Photo credit/source: Kenya Wildlife Service Facebook page
Hello friends. If you’re looking for some fun places to take your children and family for some fun moments –specifically where you can spot some wildlife in Nairobi, I have listed down below a few places that you can explore. I have also included the fees charged in these wildlife parks in Nairobi and their locations. Remember that children, no matter how old they are, love seeing animals so this will be a great treat for them 🙂
The Giraffe Centre, located in the Karen/Lang’ata area hosts plenty of the world’s tallest animal species. It is open from 9am to 5pm, seven days a week. While there, you can feed the giraffes some food pellets made of corn, wheat, grass and molasses. Don’t leave without getting a kiss from a giraffe! Educators are also available to give more information about the animals. Remember to carry a valid Identification Card with you. The charges for resident children are Ksh200 (age 3 – 12 years) and Ksh400 for resident adults. See more information about the Giraffe Center here.
Snake Park
Located at the Nairobi National Museum, this is a place I’ve been to with my sons, and it was such a fun experience. The park has other animals aside from the snakes, and these include crocodiles, an alligator, tortoises, turtles and chameleons. There’s also a nature trail that has lots of bird species. Upon request, you can get a guided tour to help educate the children about the snakes and the birds. Such fun! I captured some of our experiences at the park which you can see in the video above. Charges for the Snake Park are Ksh100 for children (below 16 years) and Ksh200 for adults.
Different animals are found at the Stedmak Gardens and they include: warthogs, lions, cheetahs, baboons and monkeys, crocodiles, gazelles, Llama, porcupines and other animals. It also has a snake park and a bird sanctuary (with over 22 different species). Stedmak Gardens is located at Mukoyeti East Road, Off Langata rd, Next to NPC South Church Karen. Charges for citizens are Ksh200 per child and Ksh300 for adults. See more details about Stedmak Gardens here.
The David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage / Nursery is located in the Nairobi National Park and is open to the public for one hour daily from 11am to Noon. During this time, you can witness the elephants enjoying a mud bath or soil dusting, as well as being fed milk. Entrance charges are Ksh500 per person. Access to the Orphanage / Nursery is via the KWS Central Workshop Gate Entrance to Nairobi National Park, off Magadi Road in Langata. You can learn more about the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage here.
Photo credit: Kenya Wildlife Service Facebook page
The Nairobi National Park plays host to a wide variety of wildlife including the endangered black rhino, lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, buffaloes, giraffes and diverse birdlife with over 400 species recorded. Charges are Ksh430 for adults and Ksh215 for children (citizens). You can access it via Lang’ata road. See more information here.
With its raised wooden boardwalk that allows for uninterrupted views of the animals, you can see the rare bongo, white rhino and albino zebra as well as big cats, antelopes and primates. It is also home to some 150 species of local trees. Charges are Ksh215 for adults and Ksh125 for children (citizens).
Nairobi Mamba Village is a natural paradise with a man-made dam and river, stocked with a variety of fish, Crocodile farm, Ostrich Park, as well as a variety of birds for the bird watchers. The Nairobi Mamba Village is located off Langata /Karen Road, on Langata North Road, about 1km from Bomas of Kenya. Entry charges to the park are Ksh150 for kids (citizens) and Ksh200 for adult citizens.
Karura Forest
At the Karura Forest, some of the animals to be seen include the duiker, bushbucks, bush pigs, porcupines, monkeys, squirrels, hares, bats, pythons, green snakes, monitor lizards. Karura Forest also hosts hundreds of bird species and butterflies. You can access it via Limuru road or Kiambu road. Entry fess are Ksh50 for kids (citizens) and Ksh100 for adult citizens. Parking fees apply for vehicles (between Ksh100 and Ksh500 depending on the size of the vehicle)
City Park
Then there’s the good old City Park located in the Parklands area (near Aga Khan Hospital) where you can hang out with the monkeys, lots of butterflies, other insects, and a wide variety of bird species. No charges apply.
Have I missed out on your favorite place to go and see animals in Nairobi? Let me know in the comments section below. Have fun and enjoy and if you do visit one of these places, feel free to come back here and let us know all about it.
Mummy Talesis a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of womanhood and motherhood. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect with Mummy Tales on: FACEBOOK lYOU TUBE l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
Parents, would you take in the child of your house girl or nanny to live with you? Is it something you’ve ever thought of? Or would you consider doing it? What are the things you need to know beforehand? The do’s and don’ts? Well, I spoke to one mom who has that exact experience. See Maureen’s helpful insights below, learn something new from her insights. Also share the video with a friend 🙂
Mummy Talesis a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of maternal and newborn health, as well as various issues surrounding motherhood and women. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect withMummy Tales on:YOUTUBE l FACEBOOK l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
Can you have a baby if you had cancer? Can a cancer patient have a baby? Cancer, or more often cancer treatments, can affect one’s ability to have children. So how can cancer patients preserve their fertility? What do they need to know? Good news is that the method is locally available here in Kenya! I spoke to Pauline Kibui, who sheds more light about what you need to know if you’re about to begin cancer treatment and you’d still like to get children someday. Fertility preservation is for all types of cancer by the way. See my interview with Pauline in the video below.
You may help by sharing this information with your friends and in your groups -you never know who could be desperately in need of this information.
Here at Mummy Tales: Raising a Family in Africa, I share inspirational stories of other women -experiences that we can all learn from. If you have an experience you’d like to share with other women, you can email it to me.
'An outburst of the soul'. Image credit: Africa Knows
Hi friends. Today, I share the sentiments of a 34-year-old mom, who is raising her two children in Nairobi. As I read her sentiments about her life as a mom, they resonated so well with me. And I thought; as we raise our children, no matter the circumstances we find ourselves in, let’s purpose to spend enough quality time with them and make precious memories together. Read her sentiments below.
“Raising kids as a single parent is one of the toughest things you can ever do. You worry about the kids alone, you provide for them alone, you take them out to have fun alone. You make the hard life choices alone.
At the same time, you get unsolicited advice from everywhere. Plus the judging eyes. And the endless, prying questions: ‘Why are you single?’ Where is the father?’
“What happened between you and baby daddy? Is the father paying child support? Are you dating again? Are you planning on getting more kids? What will you tell your child about why they don’t have a father? Are you providing enough for your child?” -Questions society asks
But I have grown with my kids. My first born –he was an ‘oops’ baby who I got in my early twenties. I was so scared! Somewhere along the way, his father left, even before baby had hit his first birthday.
Then, the uncertain 20-something year old mum was so nervous and driven by her fears. I was afraid that I had messed up my future, that I would never be the career woman I had hoped I would be. But now, in my 30’s, I’m driven by hope and big dreams. I’ve learnt that I’m tougher than I look or sound.
I got my second child –my daughter at the age of 32 years. She was a planned baby and I’m enjoying every bit of parenting her.
What I Continue to Learn
Each day, I realize that children add on to your life and make you a better person. Kids humanize you. To me, they are my heartbeats. To my son and daughter, I am their sun in the sky. The mom in shining armour.
Make Memories
Love your children, because soon they shall leave you to go start their own lives. Time whizzes by so fast, you sit down and wonder where it all went. This is where memories come in. Make as many precious memories with them, sing with them in the car, act goofy. These are the things they shall remember you by. They shall grow up to be the best versions of themselves.” -END
Do you have any sentiments you’d like to share as a mom? You can write to me on maryanne@mummytales.com
Here at Mummy Tales: Raising a Family in Africa, I share inspirational stories of other women -experiences that we can all learn from. If you have an experience you’d like to share with other women, you can email it to me.
So, I was recently at a parent’s forum where the topic of personal responsibility (of the child in this case) was being discussed. Then the facilitator asked this question:
“Parents, when your child forgets their homework textbook at school, what do you do?”
We gave varied responses to the question, including:
We post in the class parents’ WhatsApp group: Hi guys, someone please send a photo of Visionary Mathematics Grade 2 page 64. My boy forgot his textbook in school. Cheers guys!
We also post this in mom Facebook groups: “Saseni mums, mtu pliz anitumie homework picha ya Primary English Grade 3 page 25, number 1-10.”
You phone your neighbor with a child in the same class and ask if you can borrow her child’s textbook for a few minutes
You accompany your child to the neighbor’s house and take a screenshot of the page where the homework is
You tell your child that you’ll drop him at school 30 minutes before school starts to enable him to complete the assignment
You write a note in the child’s school diary by honestly saying your child forgot his textbook at school, but he’ll complete it in the evening. Then you end with an apology
You write a note in the child’s diary offering a good explanation as to why the child was unable to complete his homework. You thank the teacher for their understanding
You let the child go to school with the incomplete homework. Atajisort mbele
Then, the facilitator pointed out something about the responses: most were about parents offering solutions to the child’s problem.
The facilitator asked us if, while we were pupils ourselves, we had ever forgotten our homework in school, or failed to complete it for one reason or another.
We all raised our hands.
He then asked how many of us had our parents come up with solutions to that problem. Solutions such as those that we had mentioned.
A negligible number raised their hands.
What’s the worst thing that can happen?
The facilitator took issue with many parents of today who have the tendency to quickly come up with solutions to their children’s problems. The children are never even given the opportunity to think through the problem and try and solve it on their own, but are instead easily guided through solutions that have already been thought out for them.
“What would happen if you sent your child to school to let them face the consequences of forgetting their homework at school?
Will they be punished? Probably.
Will they be pardoned? Probably.
Will the child take it as an opportunity to learn about personal responsibility? Probably.
So just let the child go to school without the completed homework and stop falling over yourselves trying to ‘save’ them,” the facilitator told us.
That was food for thought for many parents. So how about you? What do you do when your child forgets his textbook at school? Do you agree with the facilitator? Do you think today’s parents are ‘babying’ their children too much? Do share your thoughts in the comments section below.
For most moms, they know that ‘morning sickness’ happens any time of the day, and not just in the morning. Morning sickness is when the pregnant woman just feels sick, nauseous and feels like vomiting. Sometimes, even the smell of something can trigger the retching. It can be one of the roughest parts of the pregnancy. For many, it happens in the first trimester while for others, it can go for months beyond this.
So how can you help relieve these nauseous feelings? I talked to a few Kenyan moms, and these are some of the tips they shared with me about how they dealt with the pregnancies (without having to take medicine). In case I left out something that worked for you, feel free to add that in the comments section below.
Lemon
You could try drinking freshly squeezed lemon juice, or try also sucking on slices of fresh lemon. Additional tip – you can carry them in a small lunchbox that can fit into your handbag and take them as necessary.
For Purity Musalia, whose story you can read here, she would always carry lemon and salt in her handbag, which she would then lick during the day as she went about her business. Doing so helped control her nausea. You could try that too!
2. Tropical sweets
Some moms say that eating Tropical Mint sweets throughout the day helped reduce the nauseous feelings. They said that the mint helped prevent the ‘vomiting’ feeling especially after a meal.
3. Fresh Ginger
You can peel a piece of fresh ginger and suck on it (like you do a sweet). You can also chew on small bits of it. Eating ginger cookies also helps a lot! When I was pregnant with my second son, my sister told me about the ginger cookie vybe and for sure, it worked!! So this is something I recommend 100% based on both my experience and that of my sister. So go ahead, buy some and keep them in your handbag – they’ll come in handy during the day!
Ginger cookies
4. Ice Cubes
There are moms who told me that munching on ice cubes at regular intervals during the day helped relieve some of the morning sickness. You could add a tinge of lemon if you feel that the taste would be too bland.
5. Eating Boiled Dry Foods while Avoiding Greasy, Fatty and Spicy Meals
I actually got this from quite a number of moms – that greasy foods used to make them sick. Also, the smell of some spices used to put them off completely. But dry, boiled foods like grains and potatoes -that used to work perfectly for them.
Drinking lots of water during pregnancy is extra-important as this helps keep you hydrated. Ensure that the water you’re drinking is safe.
Other mom’s comments on what worked for them:
“Having lemon tea and eating tropical sweets while on the move! Worked for the first two pregnancies. The third one I couldn’t taste lemon but I ate lots of patco!” -Elizabeth
“Ginger nut cookies and stoney tangawizi soda worked perfectly for me!” -Rosie
“Weetabix with ice cold milk. That was the only thing I could keep down. Ate that for like a month. It kept me going. Couldn’t stand cooked food because of onions and oil.” -Christine.
“I loved crushing ice cubes ?. I had bad nausea with my first born for the whoooole pregnancy. Ginger worked for a while too.” -Waithera
“I fought nausea through: Krest, black ginger tea, chewing minty gum and lemon water” -Eva
“Patcos!! I have had them through both pregnancies! I had very mild nausea but they really worked.” -Sophie
“Ginger is always a winner. It settles the tummy” -Wambui
“Cinnamon sticks are also a great snack.” -Bella
Patcos worked best for me! I would buy the whole bag and keep kwa handbag…unakulaga ukienda..” -Edwinah
“Tropical mint have been my nausea dawa since I was young. Travel nausea and when I was pregnant they came through as always. No need kununua moja moja I used to buy na packet. Store in every handbag and pocket. One of the pregnancies was a patco pregnancy.” -Joyce
“I did tropicals, ginger biscuits and lemon water. Ooh – and unripe mangoes.” -Alison
“Pilipili in every meal worked well for me” -Kari
So there you go. I hope you found the information helpful. If you did, share it with a pregnant mom as it could help her too. Did I leave anything out and which totally worked for you (and which doesn’t involve medicine)? You can share that in the comments section below. I left out the medicinal remedies because its best to get that information from a medical expert who is well-versed with matters pregnancy.
Mummy Talesis a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of womanhood and motherhood. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan momshere. Connect with Mummy Tales on: FACEBOOK lYOU TUBE l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
Mummy Tales is a platform dedicated to empowering its readers on different aspects of womanhood and motherhood. Read more motherhood experiences of Kenyan moms here. Connect with Mummy Tales on: FACEBOOK l YOU TUBE l INSTAGRAM l TWITTER
Then, the facilitator pointed out something about the responses: most were about parents offering solutions to the child’s problem.
3. Fresh Ginger
