Back to school with Anele Mdoda and Alakhe: finding the balance between fun and academic success
Alakhe Mdoda has mixed feelings about returning to school.
The 10-year-old, who will be in Grade 4 this year, said in an interview with his celebrity mother Anele Mdoda that he is thrilled about reuniting with his friends after the December school holidays.
However, the youngster is still processing the idea of returning to a life of early school mornings, lessons and homework.
This was after they recently returned from a family trip to the Victoria Falls, the breathtaking natural wonder straddling the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Overall, Alakhe is looking forward to smashing his academic, sporting and spiritual goals in 2025.
Meanwhile, his radio and television personality mother is committed to helping her son achieve his goals.
She believes that one of the best ways to do this is to ensure that he has tasty and healthy meals, snacks and beverages for school.
She said that this task is not too challenging as Alakhe enjoys eating healthy foods.
“Sometimes he will only eat the veggies on his plate,” she explained.
He added: “I make my own salads with cucumber, feta cheese, tomatoes, onion crunch chilli, olive oil and lemon juice.”
Some of Alakhe’s favourite school snacks are Big Korn Bites, biltong grapes, pineapple and mini cheddar bites while some of his favourite foods are French toast, pancakes, cabbage, oxtail, fish as well as pap and wors.
He also enjoys spending time with his mother in the kitchen.
“When I am preparing dinner, he doesn't just come when its time to eat,” Anele said.
“He will be in the kitchen with me and he always sets the table.”
The mother and son took their time creating memories over food to a new level when they participated in a special back-to-school episode of “Ready Steady Cook South Africa”, which airs on Monday, January 13.
It saw Alakhe competing against his mother as they showcased their culinary skills as well as their creativity and competitive nature.
For the show, the duo had to prepare three mouth-watering dishes using only five ingredients. With its fast-paced and engaging format, the programme challenges participants to think on their feet while entertaining viewers with exciting culinary adventures.
“It was amazing and so much fun to be on the show with my mom,” he said, adding that he was initially nervous but that he thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Anele added: “I didn't go light on him on the show because Alakhe is very competitive and I know that he will never let it go if I lose.”
“I had my game face on and I took out all of my tricks because I know that if I lose to Alakhe, he will never let me forget.”
She added that they decided to be part of the special celebrity mother and child episode because she believed that it is a fun way to teach parents and children about the healthy things to add that can be added to their child’s lunch boxes.
“The beauty of the show is that it is a fun and family-filled programme that is a quick and nice way to open the conversation between parents and kids about their goals for the year.
“Last year, Alakhe said to me that he wants to score more goals in soccer and that became the focal point of the household.”
“This year, he wants to play cricket so I know that everything that we do as a household needs to be directed towards that.”
Apart from spending time together in the kitchen, Anele and Alakhe also enjoy watching television together.
“We watch shows such as ‘The Masked Singer’, ‘Wheel of Fortune’, ‘Ready Steady Cook South Africa’ and other family viewing shows.”
“It is a great way to spend time together and we have a rule in our household that we watch some of these shows together before we all disperse to different parts of the house.”
Anele added that she is determined to raise a balanced child.
“I don’t care for 6As and 10 distinctions. I just want him to be academically, socially and athletically sound and I always assess what is happening.”
Meanwhile, Alakhe’s message for the nation’s pupils who are returning to school is: “Have fun, enjoy school and never give up.”
Anele added: “We forget that not all kids go home to loving environments and we must encourage kids to be kind because sometimes school is the only escape that kids have from some really tough environments so your child can't be the one making school tough for another child.”
“I am very hard on Alakhe when I find out that he is being unkind and unruly to another child.
As parents, we believe that our kids are the best thing on earth but we must accept when the child is wrong and it is your responsibility to fix it so moms and dads, make sure that school is a safe space for other children.”