I don’t know whether to laugh or cry
MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
While out for Sunday lunch with my grand
father, husband and 11 month old son, I
decided to indulge in a gin and tonic.
We placed our drinks order and it soon
became apparent that our waiter did not have
a grip on a prompt or coordinated delivery
service. I had requested a fruit juice and a
glass of still water to dilute the juice for my son.
The drinks were arriving in drips and drabs
and our waitor was the sort you needed to
encourage along the way. My priority was
to sort out the juice for my impatient baby, I
had been provided with the juice and was still
awaiting the water, and so I called the waitor
over to remind him. He said, “Yes mam, right
away” and returned promptly with a glass with
ice and lemon. I silently lamented the fact that
he had bothered with the ice and lemon when
I had informed him of the intended purpose,
but none the less. On removing the elements,
I poured the liquid into the awaiting bottle of
juice and gave it to my baby who proceeded to
syphon it out in a seemless sucking motion.
Now I turned my attention to my missing drink,
and eventually was able to flag our waitor
down. On informing him that my gin and
tonic had not arrived he looked at me, rather
puzzled and said, “but mam, I put it right in
front of you earlier.” I looked down at my son,
silently gulping away on a now near empty
bottle, yanked it out of his mouth and a sniff
test confirmed that I had in fact just provided
my baby with a drink of gin and tonic.
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When I recounted the story
to friends and family, most
of them asked if I had been
angry with the waitor and
given him a peice of my
mind. The thing is though, it is my
responsibility as a parent to sniff the proverbial
glass of water before I give it to my child.
You see, the world is going to offer all kinds of
things to my children, and many of them will
look harmless, and ‘all their friends’ will have
one or use one or be allowed to attend one.
However, just because the world puts these
things out there and they appear harmless, as
a parent I need to remember it is my job to do
the sniff test so that I am educated as to what
my children are consuming.
100 Main Road, Walmer
082 820 2707
12 months - Gr. R
Qualified teachers
CAPS curriculum Gr. R
So moms and dads, as we head into the festive
Department of Education
pre Gr. R curriculum
season, let’s all give ourselves a pat on the
back for making it through another year. Like
me, perhaps you won’t be winning mother or
father of the year, but everybody has survived
Breakfast, lunch and afternoon fruit supplied
say let’s say cheers to that, raise your glass
Afternoon and holiday care for Gr. 1 - 3 learners
small children!
Hours from 7am - 5:30pm
and your house is full of love and laughter. I
with me - here’s to surviving life as a parent of
DISCLAIMER: My son did not suffer any illeffects following his G & T episode and I in no
way advocate the giving of alcohol to babies or
children.
ARTICLE BY ANNA HEYDENRCYH
Editor of the Little Pages
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