🛫👪Traveling with a Child👧👦🛬

🛫👪👧👦✈🛬

🗣🗣 📢📣 "Good afternoon passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for Donnellsworld Airlines flight D242 to vacationville. We are now inviting those passengers with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time. Thank you." 🗣🗣📢📣

When parents hear this announcement, we know it's time to rock 'n' roll baby!

As parents, we are our children's first teachers and what we present to them tend to shape their view of the world. Thomas Berry said, "Children should be properly introduced to the world in which they live." Giving them opportunities to experience other countries, cuisines and cultures is something they won't soon forget. It teaches them to accept others and to have an appreciation for things that are different from their norm.

My son is now 6 years old and has been on 4 international trips and several domestic trips in The Bahamas. On taking him to Andros Island in 2019 and to Eleuthera in 2020, he was so facsinated on the trips over because we went by boat. He was able to see sea animals in their natural habitat and a few land creatures once we arrived, he still talks about those experiences. 

Liam has had his passport from infancy and during our travels with him to the US in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 its like he was four different people lol 😂. He behaved differently on each trip so I didn't know what to expect but luckily we adjusted and did what was best to make him comfortable. On one trip he refused to eat anything other than oatmeal and cereal and I was so frustrated lol I can laugh now but then uuuggghhhh 😒.

Due to this pandemic, our 2020 family trip was canceled. He was so excited for the chance to see snow so hopefully next year we can fulfill those travel plans. He loves to travel and so do I.

🌍🌎🌏🌎🌍🌎🌏🌎🌍🌎🌏🌎🌍🌎🌏🌎🌍

"When you travel with children you are giving something that can never be taken away...experience, exposure and a way of life." -Pamela T. Chandler

✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈✈

Time to hear from another mother. Introducing Keia Valentin!!!!🥳🥳👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Mrs. Valentin is a wife, mother, entrepreneur, mentor, philanthropist and a travel enthusiast. 

She is doing it all and I am here for it!!! 💃💃💃

As we are all navigating this global pandemic, avoiding gatherings and adhering to the social distancing protocols, a written interview was best. When I asked Keia to share her views on the topic, she literally said, "What do you want to know?😀" and I was so excited that she was willing to do so. Read below for her experience on traveling with her family. 👇👇👇

"I’m a mom of 3 amazing boys (5, 3 and 2 years old). They all got their passports before they were 3 months old. I’ve been traveling with my kids for 5 years now."

How do you keep them entertained? From home to the airport to the flight to the destination and throughout the trip.

"Travel during sleeping hours of your kids if possible. When I take short flights I always book early flights or late flights. It was always during the time that I know my kids sleep because even if they woke up anytime between leaving home to actually sitting in the plane and managed to stay up after we lifted off they couldn’t stay awake much longer after that. This allowed me to also catch some shut eye or get some work done. Longer flights are a bit trickier because chances are they would be awake for some part of the flight. Depending on the age of the child that’s where pacifiers, toys or tablets come in. My older two that are 5 and 3 now can be entertained by a tablet. My youngest, that is 2, would definitely need his bottle or a toy he likes for the most part."

When choosing a destination, are child friendly places/activities a factor during planning?

"When you travel take someone that can look after the kids during times you have to get things done. Our kids would travel with us on our business trips. That was made possible because my mom would travel with us. That allowed us to get things done and have a family vacation vacay at the same time. When we were traveling just for a family vacation my husband and I choose resorts that are accommodating to children. That entails playrooms, a kids pool and other kid activities. My mom travels with us everywhere we go which is very fortunate for us to have her there while they are young but as they get older and we continue to travel I’m sure we will be utilizing the babysitting services incase we want to have a date night or spend time alone."

Are you an "over-packing mom" or do you purchase what you need as they arise?

"I’m both depending on the situation. If I’m traveling domestically like from one US state to another I pack lighter because I know that if I absolutely need something I can get it. I take the essentials. When we are traveling internationally I pack everything I need and a whole lot more because I’m not certain if I will find the quality of product that I’m looking for or find what I need at all."

"Get your traveling done now because when a baby comes it's all over". How would you respond to that statement? Any truth to it?

"It’s not true for me. Although I’m not traveling with my kids at the moment because of Covid restrictions, I’m still traveling quite a lot. Once everything goes to I guess the “new normal”, my kids will be traveling as well. We have lots of trips lined up like Disney in Paris. It should be fun.

I wouldn’t say it’s all over. I would say it becomes more expensive once the child is 2 years of age and more planning is needed, but it doesn’t have to be over. I would suggest doing as much traveling before you have kids because their schedule now becomes your schedule so you obviously wouldn’t be able to just pick up and go as you please all the time."

🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳🧳

Not every classroom has 4 walls...traveling is learning.

🗣🗣📢📣 Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to vacationville. On behalf of Donnellsworld Airlines and the entire crew, I'd like to thank you for joining us and we are looking forward to seeing you on board in the near future. Have a nice stay. 🗣🗣📢📣

What are some mom tips and tricks that you use while traveling with your child(ren)? Leave them in the comments below!

You can see more of Keia Valentin on her website https://www.theholisticlifeproject.com/ . You can also follow her on social media.

http://www.instagram.com/theholisticlifeproject

http://www.facebook.com/holisticlifeproject

#donnellsworld #girlinyellowsweater

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🌿🍵Bush Teas 🍵 🌿

 My Fav Bush Teas😊

What's your favorite?

Growing up on Andros Island, Bahamas; one of the many treasures we had (and still have) is our accessibility to nature and all things natural. While we had store bought teas 🍵 and hot chocolate beverages☕, we definitely preferred to wake up to the smell of fever grass or pear leaf (avocado) boiling in the mornings. 

You know "Tea & Bread"? Omg...homemade bread🍞with a big cup of bush tea🍵was all I needed to start🌞and end🌑my day. 😊🍞🍵❤❤❤

My Go-to Teas

             Love Vine                                                 

Five Finger

            Strong Bark                                                

Gum Elemi

                Peppermint                                                                                            

Fern

        Avocado Leaves                          

Fever/Lemon Grass

 If I had to choose just one tea to have for the rest of my life, it would definitely be the fever grass tea 😊😊😊😊. It grows so easily and doesn't need much maintaince. The fever grass pictured is in my back yard.

               Moringa Plant                              

Moringa Seeds (from the pods)

When I make Moringa Tea, I wash the leaves and let them steep in hot water overnight. You can drink it hot or cold, with or without sweetner. I don't use white sugar so I'd sweeten with natural brown sugar, honey or agave. A very refreshing tea when had iced. These seeds were taken from a pod of a Moringa tree. The seeds at the bottom of the picture are those still in its shell. You can have to open the shell to get the white seeds at the top in the picture. Once chewed, they start off with a sweet-ish, misleading taste😂 and ends with a bitter finish😣. I got these seeds from a random tree by the roadside in Nassau lol.

              Moringa Powder                                              

 I use one tablespoon of Moringa Powder in my smoothies. My favorite, and simplest, smoothie has 3 ingredients; 1 frozen banana, 1 tbsp of Moringa powder and almond milk/rice milk (no dairy). I also use this powder in my hair treatments.

           Fenugreek Powder                                 

Fenugreek Seeds

While Feungreek is used for its distinct flavor in food dishes and has numerous health benefits, the main purpose for introducing Fenugreek into my diet is for the wonders it can do for the skin and hair. 

Fenugreek powder hydrates and moisturises the skin making it soft and supple. For the hair, fenugreek promotes hair growth and can be used in treating various scalp issues like dandruff. It nourishes hair follicles and strenthens it to prevent hair breakage.

The Moringa Powder, Fenugreek Powder and Fenugreek Seeds were purchased from Amazon.com

Bit by bit all of the bushy areas in New Providence are being develpoed, making it difficult to find bush teas on the island, unless you know exactly where to go. However, my good good mummy who still resides in Andros, would pack a nice box and send it on the mailboat to New Providence whenever I'm in need. **She took the photos of the trees in this post and sent them to me** 

Shout to my mom, Penny, in South Mastic Point, Andros for raising and keeping us kids strong and healthy.

A combination tea of pear leaf (avocado), five finger, love vine, strong bark, fern and sour sop

Bottling my tea😊

Please note: I am not a doctor, herablist/nutritionist. I am not giving recommendations, just simply highlighting my favorite bush teas.

You can do further research on the nutritional values of these plants to see how you may benefit from them.

Leave me your favorite bush teas and tea combinations in the comments!

#GirlintheYellowSweater #donnellsworld

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P€nn¥ Gone 2020👋🏾

🅿️ENNY GONE 2020 👋🏾

Bye-Bye. It was great while it lasted😙

Hold up! Before we say goodbye, let's take a stroll back to the beginning. 

"On May 25, 1966, The Bahamas Currency Board released the first series of coins for the new currency, which consisted of denominations of 1, 5, 10, 15, 25, and 50 cents..."

First Design 1966-1970

Where the penny started and where it is now 👇🏾

In a 2019 article by NEIL HARTNELL, 

#Tribune Business Editor

"The Central Bank has issued "rounding" guidelines for cash payments. When a bill does not end in zero or five cents, those ending in one or two will be rounded to zero; those ending in three, four, six and seven will be rounded to five, and those ending in eight or nine rounded to 10."

❗WHERE & HOW TO REDEEM YOUR PENNIES❗

On 23rd October 2020, I went to the Quality Super Market on Cable Beach to redeem my pennies!!! The Central Bank team and their process was so quick and efficient.

 🗣Shout out to Mr. Moultrie from the Central Bank team for being extremely nice, professional and taking the time to speak with me.

🔴🔴HEADS 🆙️🔴🔴

If you haven't redeemed your pennies as yet, here's what you'll need to know/do:

1. Once the dates, times and locations for November are released, take your pennies to one of the designated locations. Don't roll them.

2. Have a government issued 🆔️ present

3. Have your banking information readily available. Your bank account is credited for the amount of your pennies.🏦

Please note: You will NOT receive cash in hand. Your bank account will be credited so take your account information. 

Come...Have a look👀 at the pennies I redeemed 🥳🎉👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 

So, no...I was not one of those people who needed a 🛒 to haul their pennies in nor did I take buckets and buckets of pennies to be redeemed. I had one container, a large, reused oatmeal box lol.

I just wanted to be a part of the process.😊

💰💸💵I got $43!!!!💃🏾💃🏾💃🏾

The November redemption dates and locations are still TBA so follow The Bahamas Penny Page on Facebook for updates, page link cited in sources.

Things to remember:

1. The Bahamian Penny will no longer be legal tender as of 31st December 2020.

2. You have until 30th June 2021 to redeem your pennies.

#donnellsworld #girlintheyellowsweater #blogpost #pennygone2020 #pennygone

LIKE. SHARE. COMMENT. 

UPDATE❗❗ HERE ARE THE NOVEMBER DATES, TIMES AND LOCATIONS FOR YOUR PENNY REDEMPTION.

Sources:

🔗https://www.facebook.com/The-Bahamas-Penny-Page-359857248060061/ 

🔗http://www.tribune242.com/news/2019/sep/18/one-cent-coin-use-to-cease-by-end-2020/

🔗https://currencies.fandom.com/wiki/Bahamian_1_cent_coin

🔗https://www.centralbankbahamas.com/bank-coins

Coping, Healing, Mothering & Living after the loss of a child

No child comes with a manual and being someone's mom and a first time parent can be scary when you don't know what to expect.

I had my first child, a baby girl 👶, when I was 20 years old. I was in college at the time and I found a balance between mothering and schooling that worked for me. With the help of those in my circle I was able to continue attending college without having to take a semester off or drop out.

6th Februaruary 2010 at 2:36am, I gave birth to her via C-Section at PMH 🏥. 

She was named and christened *Charis Ashley Major*. 👼 The exciement and joy was through the roof.

During the fourteen (14) months that she was with us, Charis was that toddler with a big bubbly personality.

 

    

My laptop was obviously her laptop lol

Charis was the first grand child to her paternal grandmother and the first great grand child to her paternal great grandmother. She was also the first granddaughter to my mom. Everyone who met her, fell in love with her. Every day I think about her and I always say I wish I'd taken more pictures, recorded more videos, taken her to more places and made more memories. The memories I have of her and with her will never fade.

                    Charis at Christmas 2010

 

😂😂😂 We even slept alike.

 

Charis and Great-grammy "Mama Lisha"

Some of my favorite pics of Charis

This white watch lol I loved it and it's still in my jewelry box!!!

                       ✨✨Cha-Cha Bella✨✨

 

       She loved her Elmo

    Every girl should wear pearls

 

     Her first carnival 2010

💗

Living with the loss of a child, regardless of how old the child was, is hard. I can't and won't compare my situation to another parent but what I do know is that this feeling is something I battle EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. 

No exaggeration, I think about her every day, be it something that reminds me of her, whenever I drive pass the cemetary where she's buried or just a random thought of her. It has gotten easier over the years and I've learned to live with it and not let it overcome me. I spent many days and nights praying and since prayers don't expire, I'm sure all of the prayers my family prayed to God on my behalf are still keeping me strong to this very moment.

I remember the day she died like it happened today, it makes me sad still but I have the strength to keep moving. I called the hospital that morning letting them know I would be going to church and that I'd come to the hospital afterwards. The nurse encouraged me to go and said church would do me good to calm me down so I went. My dad was driving me that day and my aunt called us for dinner before going to the hospital. While I was eating I could barely chew. I could remember the strange feeling in my gut. Moments later I got a call from the nurse saying they needed me ASAP. My heart sank. When I got there the doctor told me that her heart stopped beating at 3:47pm. I was escorted to the waiting room awaiting further word. At 4:47pm the code was called and that was it. She was gone. My baby was gone. Gone too soon. 

The doctor came in the room, "I'm sorry mummy, baby has died" he turned and walked away. I was so numb I couldn't even cry. 

My grandfather passed away 8 days prior to her passing. My dad and aunts were all there and it was like the weight of the world was literally on my neck! April 17th 2011 was a day like none other and the following days were a blur.

 

At Charis' funeral 29th April 2011

 

At Granddaddy's funeral 30th April 2011

At first, thinking about Charis made me cry, now thoughts of her make me smile and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Losing a loved one is a difficult time for anyone. A parent losing a young child, seeing that child in a coffin and being lowered into the ground is an outer-body experience that I wouldn't want anyone to experience.

I was given another chance to mother a child. Mothering after a loss is no easy feat still, it caused me to be super and overly protective of my son. I don't take any moment for granted.

If you have never lived through the loss of a child, please... please... please do not tell others how to grieve or mention what you would do if you were in their shoes. Give support, be a listening ear or a shoulder to cry on. There are no rules on how long to grieve however, there are ways to do it healthily. Do what works for you.

9 years later here I am, putting my feelings into words and I can honestly say I am stronger for having gone through what I went through. It helped to mold me into the individual that I am.

-Girl in the Yellow Sweater😘

#donnellsworld #girlintheyellowsweater #blogpost 

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