culture Archives - Parenting Tips and Advice | Zaparents Blog

human rights (24)
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Theatre review: Hairspray (Redhill High School)

by Tiffany Markman | culture, family theatre, family time, human rights, reviews, shows | 1 comment

This isn’t your below-average high school musical. Actually, this isn’t even your average musical. Redhill High School’s Hairspray is something else.

What it means (to me) to be South African

by Tiffany Markman | culture | 2 comments

Hoo boy, this topic is a toughie. I dithered and contemplated. Internally debated and outwardly frowned. How do you sum up something that’s part of your heart and your heartbreak? I figured a list would work. And I stopped when I got to 20 items.

Mama, why are we called Indian if we live in Africa?

by Fatima Kazee | culture | 0 comments

My 5 year old daughter asked me the other day, “Mama, why are we called Indian if we live in Africa? Aren’t we Africans?” Which is a very valid point. So I explained that our great-grandparents were born in India and came to South Africa many years ago …

Women’s Day – “Dresses are preferred”

by Sholain Govender-Bateman | culture, gender | 0 comments

There is something fundamentally wrong with a school giving their female students a civvies day treat for Women’s Day but then saying “the dress-code is smart-casual, but of course, dresses are preferred…”.

6 tips for raising strong daughters

by Tiffany Markman | culture, gender | 7 comments

Recent research about women and business isn’t pretty. We’re comparatively worse than men at negotiations and navigating the challenges of the workplace…

Devil in a pumpkin

by Mia Von Scha | culture | 2 comments

A couple of years ago we enrolled our daughter in a religious school. We’re not religious ourselves, but it was a nice school in a good area with great teachers and an endearing principal. The year didn’t go as well as we had hoped, with the final straw coming on Halloween.

Heritage Day – Why do we celebrate it?

by Jayshree Sita | culture | 2 comments

My daughter(13) asked me,“ Why should I dress Indian and not South African for Heritage Day assembly?

Would you put your naked toddler in a magazine?

by Tiffany Markman | culture, gender | 30 comments

The specific picture I’m concerned with is the one titled ‘MOTHER & CHILD’. It’s a lovely image, featuring beautiful Lee-Ann Liebenberg and her two-year-old, Gia…

Is Father Xmas real? To lie or not to lie, that is the question!

by Mia Von Scha | culture | 18 comments

Father Christmas, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy… what these three all have in common is that we know perfectly well that it is us filling the stockings, hiding the eggs and replacing lost dentition with cash.

Let Christmas enrich your family, not impoverish it

by Mia Von Scha | culture | 7 comments

I think that over the years what was once a holiday of family and good food and religious traditions has simply become fuel for the economic machine.

Caught between a rock and a spooky place

by Kerry Haggard | culture | 9 comments

When I was growing up, Hallowe’en was a thing we saw on American movies – it was never a big deal in South Africa, probably because our parents were concerned about the security of children wandering around the streets after dark,…

Coping with loss, from the mouths of babes

by Kerry Haggard | culture, emotions | 11 comments

You know when you become a mom that there are going to be times when you have to deal with the really difficult stuff with your child – the stuff of life…

What can we teach our children at Christmas?

by Philippa Cross | culture, giving | 0 comments

I believe that Christmas is a Holy day to be celebrated. For you, that may not necessarily be the story of the virgin birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. But it is still an opportunity for you to talk to your children about God and his role on Earth.