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Rookie Mom

Motherhood hit me like a ton of bricks. I’m still a little dazed by it, but the messiness is more familiar territory now. I started blogging as Rookie Mom, and eight years down the line am still learning because each stage is new. While I don’t share as much detail as I did when the boys were small, I think these posts still share the learning, the laughter, and the lunacy of parenting in the early years.

Why I Love My Stomach Rolls

Rookie Mom
Last week at yoga, I was effectively forced to stare at pools of sweat gathering in my stomach rolls. The pose had me sitting down, folded over, head hanging into my lap, looking at my belly. I don’t what this yoga pose is actually called. Probably Folded Moon or Curled…
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Say Something

Rookie Mom
I have big feet. Like, size 8 big feet. I seldom paint my toenails bright colours because there is just SO MUCH surface area. On a normal woman, pink toenails look sweet and summery. On me, it looks like I spilled paint on my feet. I call them Roadmaps.Because of…
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How To Be A Better Parent All The Time At Everything

Rookie Mom
Dear Parent, You’re probably thirty-something. You probably have a child or two under the age of four. You never knew you could feel SO MUCH LOVE, but you also never knew it was going to be THIS HARD. There are moments of sheer delight, but they’re often separated by long,…
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Durban Street Names

Back when the Durban street names were being changed, a lot of (white) people were freaking out. Why is this necessary? Who are these people? It’s going to cost so much money… etc. etc. etc. I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t even bother to look up the people whose names were now lining the streets of Durban. Then I became curious. Especially about the women. And what I learnt was inspiring, devastating, fascinating, and challenging.

Helen Joseph

Helen Joseph Road was formerly Davenport Road, Glenwood. Helen Joseph was a South African anti-apartheid activist, born on 8 April 1905 in Sussex, England and died 25 December 1992. EARLY YEARS She graduated from King’s College, in 1927 and soon after that, she left for India. She worked as a…
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Bertha Mkhize

Bertha Mkhize, formerly Victoria Street. Bertha lived in Victoria Street where she ran a clothing factory in from the 1930’s to the 1960’s.  Nhlumba Bertha Mkhize was one of the first people to lead the struggle for women’s rights in South Africa. She was also one of the first black…
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Dorothy Nyembe

Today I am profiling Dorothy Nyembe, formerly Gardiner Street. This woman was a force to be reckoned with!   Dorothy Nomzansi Nyembe, known as “Mam D”, was born on 31 December 1931, near Dundee in northern KwaZulu-Natal, and she died in Umlazi on 17 December 1998. Dorothy attended mission schools until…
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How To Stop Being An Angry South African

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I’m grumpy. Today, I just feel grumpy. Why, Jess? I’m so interested in your life that I really need to know why you are grumpy. Fine, Internet, fine. Here is why I’m grumpy. 1) I’m grumpy because of the State of The Nation chaos of last night. Policemen arresting peaceful protesters,…
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You Can Make His Dream Come True. Not Really.

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Last night, Tom and I put on our hipster-ish clothing and went to Florida Road for date night. It was very cold, and there weren’t that many hipsters out. It was a little disappointing, so I’m glad I saved my denim shirt for later in the weekend. Anyway, this is…
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