Your Baby – July 2019

You’re invited to the

70 | JULY & AUGUST 2019

Image: Gallo Images/Getty Images

YOU WANT YOUR daughter’s playdates

and sleepovers to be a hit. Here are

all the things you can do to make the

afternoon a roaring success.

DEALING WITH DIFFICULT FRIENDS

A shy, crying child A specific activity

can often be blamed for the friend’s

unhappiness, says Lerato Zwane, of

Fourways in Johannesburg, mom of

Omphile (7) and Thato (5).

Say “perhaps you’ve run too much

and now you’re a little tired” or “maybe

the DVD’s sound was too loud, and it

bothered you; let’s rather do something

that’s a little calmer.”

Lerato always tells a crying friend that

she can phone her mom if she’d like to

talk to her or rather go home. “I don’t

perfe

c

t

p

la

ydate

As your child grows

older, your house

becomes more and more

of an extension of her

social world. But what do

you do with a friend who

runs wild in your house,

or cries the whole time?

Nicola Davies-Laubscher

finds out

want a child to think she’s being held

here against her will,” she says.

A noisy, boisterous child Focus on

quiet activities to calm down a noisy,

boisterous child is the advice of Jeanne

Ackermann, a teacher at Huppelland,

a nursery school in Cape Town. “Water

is very calming. A tea set or big trough

filled with water and buckets, boats and

watering cans works wonders. A ball of

clay and cookie cutters is also a peaceful

activity that gets them to sit still.”

Jeanne suggests that you don’t limit

the children to one room all day. “Plan

things in such a way that they can enjoy

activities in different rooms throughout

the afternoon.” She suggests that you

remind them the whole time to use their