Lagos Mum
Showing posts with label Lagos Mum. Show all posts

Going out of my comfort zone || Mum Blogger in Lagos

November 12, 2025

 It's been 2 weeks, and I still haven't made writing this segment a priority. I was so preoccupied with the field trips that we organised @ Cuddle Africa. 




Let me catch you up for 2 weeks, yeah? Let's go! 



I decided to take my walks outside of the comfort of my estate. I decided that safety wasn't good enough for me, I needed to gamble with where there was a possibility of me being hit by a car, bus or Okada. I was so disappointed to know that the long one-hour walk was just about 4km, and I got 7k steps in. Phew. I made the mistake on one of those days to walk when it rained, sigh! My very not-so-picky self noticed all the trash, dirty puddles, smeellllll Gosh! I've not been motivated to take that walk again. This Lagos is DIRTY! That's all I would say about that. 







We are STILL homeschooling because the new question I get now is "Are you still homeschooling?" Well YES! My older son is learning about bridges this month, and my younger son is learning about a cocktail of different things. We have a trip coming up next week to Ibadan, and I have been working on our itinerary so far, and it's looking good. I have a budget and I am hoping to stick with it. Fingers crossed. 




I made a cinnamon roll. I bake mostly with the kids, and you can imagine it's always chaotic, and I never get to enjoy my process. They had a birthday party that Saturday, and I took the opportunity to enjoy and bake without chaos. I enjoyed myself, the treat was yummy, and I think I am done with my cinnamon roll phase. This was the 2nd time baking it, and now I am so over it. Lol. 





Our field trip. My company, Cuddle Africa, now organises field trips for parents and their kids during the holidays. This time we went to Mindscapes museum, Jaekel house & Lagos state fire station. We had an amazing time. I finally met my assistant, who has been working virtually with me for a while now. We wrapped up the field trips, took our lessons and planned for next year. You can join our waitlist here. 





My dilemma and reflection: 

I really don't remember what my major dilemma was last week, but I found myself reflecting on how people/vendors are increasingly becoming unreliable. I just need consistency in the quality you deliver and the timeliness. I don't think that's too much to ask in 2025, right? Right. 


Can I rant a bit? I paid 20k for a taxi from the Island to the mainland and 17k+ back. Every time I see the fare these days, I just feel so surprised. I remember paying N500 for a taxi, N1,000 and a maximum of N6,000 to the mainland. It's so crazy. They keep saying it's getting better, but the cost of everything keeps going up. I was truly overwhelmed by it all, and it's not like I can do anything about it. Sigh! One has to just keep making money. Feeling so sad for my beloved country 



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What I will do differently with my second child || The cuddle blog

August 6, 2020
In living life with my toddler, I see a lot of things that I would love to do differently with my second child (God willing) and I decided to make a list of my own and ask other mothers in our community so I will share my own and what other mums said about the topic. 



I have read from other mums who said they said they would do things differently but when the child came it was so different and it didn't happen from a realistic perspective, just like when we say we will do certain things when we have children and do the exact opposite when they come. 

While I know that children are different and you won't be dealing with the same things, I believe that we can plan and prepare for the best for our next child especially as we have the gift of experience to put things in perspective for us! 

So, here is my list;

  • No Tv very early: I have a lot more knowledge on the reasons why I shouldn't allow screen time so early and I am hoping to be able to put that knowledge to in motion. I don't know how it will work out because obviously, my son has TV time and don't know how practical it will be to not allow a baby watch the TV that is right there but hey! That's my intention.
  • Try to sleep train earlier: I tried sleep training my son when he was little but it was such a hassle and I gave up too easily, so as he grew up we now only sleep trained again at 3 years old and now, he still wakes up every day at midnight without fail and that can be frustrating for me. 
  • Get a high chair: I heard this from a mums24 when she was telling me about her daughter and the difference having a high chair made in her feeding habits and all. I didn't even get a high chair for my first but we got a table and chair for him when he turned 2 but he still will stand up and run around. I am hoping that the high chair will help with feeding.
  • Start homeschooling earlier: I will be more purposeful with my child's learning from birth as against waiting till 1-year-old or 18 months. 
  • Might breastfeed a little after 12 months: I would love to extend the breastfeeding till after 12 months, even if it is by pumping and storing. I felt guilty about how I stopped breastfeeding at 12months! 
  • Enjoy the newborn phase more: My son's birth was something and I didn't get to enjoy the newborn phase as much as I would have loved to, I was depressed most of the time, so I intend to enjoy the newborn phase more when my second child comes, be happy and make the moments count.
  • NO CO-SLEEPING!!!!! END OFF!!!! 😂😂😂
Here are what some other mums said they will do/have done differently;

"Placing the child on a routine from two months, no plenty carrying, introduce a wide variety of foods and fruits from 6 months and more😀" - @nittigrattakids 

"I learnt not to be impatient with their learnings after my experience with my first child. Learning takes time for children and every child learns differently. All the fuss and anxiety are unnecessary and we tend to pile much learning on them way too early." - @mums24 (she has 3 kids)

"The most significant thing that comes to mind is that I'm dealing with 'Terrible Twos' better with my second than my first. I knew what to expect. I have as firmer when we started potty training, and I learnt a better way to introduce solids. It's absolutely delightful watching them play together (the fights are not fun 🤕) vs when my first would be called a loner because he always stayed by himself and played alone." - @Importeddiapers_ng

"My second is 4 months old. I started placing him in his cot right from the hospital so he is used to it. That's where he sleeps. Breastfeeding didn't hurt unlike the first where my nipples bled for the first week. I didn't buy too many unnecessary things. I also let him soothe himself to sleep instead of relying on the boobs" - @queen_Olaide1

"With my second i did things differently and it worked. From preparation for birth to feeding to what to wear. Basically, i look at and appreciate every phase differently" - @dees.craft.corner

"I would not introduce bottle to my 2nd child certainly" - @doyinfalodun 

"Sleep train and potty train them earlier 😁👌 and of course learn to enjoy them because they truly grow up very quickly" - @mummyclinicc 


"I think I'm just going to stress less. The newborn stage with my first wasn't fun for me at all. I will be intentional about enjoying my second being a baby." @thatjournalista

"I definitely do some things differently the second time around. What worked for the first won’t necessarily work for the second! You have to take it all as it comes." - @Jessbaumgardner 

"One thing I said I was going to do and I did, is to sleep when baby sleeps. Works like magic, it helps me a lot, especially in the early phase." - @auntylanre 

"I learnt to chill out more - I’ve got a second one now and because I can see with my first that they go through phases and those phases pass I enjoyed the experience with my second more so. I also learnt to cherish it more as you realise how precious the time is and how quickly it goes" - @tntkidventures 

"I listened more and I screamed less." - @the_millennialwoman

" I will record more moments. I love looking back and seeing how we've grown as a family and how my baby has grown" - @oloriadedotun

I know that reality might be different if/when it happens that's why I will(God willing) be here to come to give you the gist after. Over to you

What will you/did you do differently with your second child?



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Homeschool Jan 2020: What were we up to? || Homeschooling in Nigeria

February 12, 2020
Yay! 
Welcome to our Homeschooling update. When we started this year, I knew we couldn't give weekly update like last year because I didn't anticipate how much the holiday will affect our routine, It's still February and we have still not recovered but we are getting there slowly but surely. 

I made a whole spreadsheet for the year in order to keep me accountable and so far we have followed it, I am actually happy about it, although we have seriously cut back on the number of activities we do during the day and there's been no pressure at all. 

At the end of 2019, I walked the people in the homeschooling group on the basics of homeschooling and it got me thinking again about my philosophy on education what path we wanted to choose as a family and I think I finally decided on one. I think. Lol (You'd see it at the end)

I took lessons from choosing a path , 2019 homeschooling journey and used it while I was working on our plan this year and it made me make better decisions, focus on what was important and not fuss over what I thought it should look like in my mind. I shared in an insta live session on how I planned for the year and posted on Youtube 

Themes we explored in January:
  • All about me
  • Home
  • Personal Health 
  • Family

We had a great time and also squeezed in about 3 outings (Freedom Park, Nike art Gallery & Laterna Bookstore)
See Our Image gallery for January below (If you want me to share the exact things we did let me know) ; 



"How many pom-poms can the hand hold?"

Make a face


Gross motor cards 



Stones for painting

Out the face together 

Family Sensory bin




Walk the road less travelled 




Freedom Park




Laterna

Washing Hands


Making a car 


Nike art gallery



Baking with Aunty Cakesbylonpe


Family Tree


Exploring the outdoors


Houses

The Making 

Reading 

Who is in your house


Catapult 



So, I realised I am leaning more towards, unschooling and unit study educational philosophy, Let's see how that plays out.
What does your homeschool look like in 2020?
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