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I cannot stress this enough but whenever you are struggling with your kids, ALWAYS go for a water activity. Our last few days have been crappy and the bub was particularly cranky today. His usual peacock drive wasn't enough to lighten his mood. So off we went to the mess and just let him free with the water pipe. He diligently watered the entire garden, washed the vehicles printed on his shirt π and also gave himself a bath a la liril ad π. Once he was done, he came home quietly (usually to get him back to room is a daily struggle for me), had his dinner and voila, was asleep by 10 (tears of joyπ)! So from my experience, I would always always recommend water for when you are no more able to handle things. Some of the activities you can try are: * Watering plants * Filling of water bottles * Play with pouring water in assorted objects (we tend to use his blocks, toys, bottle caps, tumblers etc) * Paper boats in a bucket/stream * Inflatable baby pool (if you have access to one) * Good old Bath/Shower. To jazz up things you can place their bath tub in the balcony/garden and let them have a pool-partysque outdoors experience (unless you have creepy neighbours) Hope this helps!
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The weather is driving us crazy, we are running out of activity ideas, the bub has taken to sleeping well beyond 2am everyday, I suffer a bruised lip because he flung a toy at my face and I've spent the last three days convincing him that his hotwheels car would not drink breastmilk. And it's only Wednesday. Experimented with winged eyeliner today to cheer myself up. How is your week going? π
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On the blog today. Link in bio βοΈ Editing this post because last time the bub snatched away the phone before I could type anything more. As soon as you're married, everyone keeps pestering you for the 'good news. As a woman, you are conveyed directly or indirectly about the great blessing motherhood is and how bringing a child out of your womb will enable you to justify your existence on this planet. But in all of this societal fluff, we forget to mention some really important facts about motherhood a woman (and her partner) deserves to know to make the right choice. This post is my honest attempt to list out things I wish I knew before I ventured into motherhood. If you have something more to add, please let me know! What are the things no one told YOU about becoming a mother?
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He got it from his mama πππ
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5 WAYS TO RAISE SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS CHILDREN : 1. Be a socially conscious adult yourself. Jokes and casual remarks about someone's complexion, physical features, ethnicity, religion, caste, financial status - all of it is discriminatory. Don't be a jerk. 2. Unfortunately, the above is very common in our families (including mine), society and as portrayed in media. Talk to your child as soon as he can understand (even 2-3 yrs old) why you think differently and why it's not ok to engage in the said behaviour. 3. Teach your child to respect everyone irrespective of where they come from and what work they do. Also, teach them to call out douche behaviour irrespective of who it could be - Respect is to be earned and not just because someone is elder/senior to you. (Please refer to point 1) 4. Explain to your child what privilege means and that if his parents are active on Instagram in these times of multiple crisises, he/she anyway belongs to a much more privileged family than 70% of the world population. Raise them to be kind and show them by example how they can use their privilege to help others. 5. Teach your child that all lives matter. But firstly, start believing it yourself. Children don't need to be taught anything - they learn everything by observing you.
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Having that kind of week where the heat is melting our bodies and the bub is having meltdowns to match it. How have you been?
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Getting ready to go wash clothes because I have nowhere else to go and the lipstick is expiring.
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Things my 2 yr old cannot do: β’ Say A-Z or 1-10 β’ Sing Rhymes β’ Speak or Understand English. Well, he cannot speak in sentences at all as of now. . Things my 2 yr old CAN do: β’ Serve food to himself, eat on his own with hands/spoon/fork and basically feed himself as much as his body requires. β’Pour water from the jug/filter into his glass or drink from bottles (adult or own) directly β’ Open the caps, fill bottles with water from filter and tighten the cap back β’ Keep his toys in place β’Take bath on his own β’ Climb up a stool and brush his teeth/wash his hands with soap on his own β’ Sweep floors, wash clothes β’ (Sort of) fold his clothes β’ Water plants β’ Find his way to the neighbours house or the mess kitchen which is quite far off β’ Understand Hindi, Marathi and Telugu and communicate perfectly non-verbally/with single words. Things I wish he didn't know to do but he knows'em too well: Operate TV and phone. * I would like to believe we aren't doing as bad on the parenting front. Like I've always said, my primary aim will forever be to make him as independent as possible, as soon as possible. Schooling can wait. * (P.S. Even though he can do all of the above things, we do not always let him do them and he is NEVER EVER left unsupervised.)
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I baked my first bread today! It was a Focaccia bread, a very simple recipe with basic ingredients that I chanced upon the internet yesterday and couldn't get my mind off it. You see, I love baking! It's theraupetic for me. But I haven't baked anything ever since the bub was born. Basically, the busy-ness that comes with being a new mom and then later on because we shifted cities and my oven stayed packed for two years. Once upon a time, my cakes were so popular in the station that kids would specially request me to bake cakes for their birthdays. But funnily enough and saddeningly, I never got to bake a cake for my own child's first birthday. Anyway, we are trying to make up for the lost time. We are staying in a guest room here and have to depend on the mess kitchen even for a cup of tea. But sometimes I hop into the mess kitchen and get to experiment with cooking. I made Southern Fried Chicken yesterday which we forgot to click a picture of cos it was lapped up by le husband and the neighbouring bachelors in a minute. This bread faced the same fate today. Hopefully, I will remember to take better pictures next time! Got to manage with whatever I have right now. π P.S. The fauji wives- Have you ever noticed how possessive the mess cooks are about their kitchens? π .
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5 Parenting Lessons from the Lockdown: 1. Parents indeed are the most important person in a child's life. No matter what the circumstances in life, as long as the parents are nearby, a child feels safe. 2. Most of the times, being present is enough. A child doesn't really need you to play with her/him all the time. But they do value you being around for them to feel secure with their experiments or share their achievements with you. 3. Your children don't really need that many toys to be happy. Trust me, we barely have any as lockdown happened when we were travelling. 4. Children can indeed stay without junk food and a little bit of planning and efforts from our side can help them do that! Also, as the quarantine cooks all over social media have shown, food doesn't have to be boring to be healthy. 5. All children DO need outdoors time in a day, the more the better. It's incredible how parents all over the country have been managing staying indoors with their kid all day, since so many days! I have personally had it easy in this regard as we are living in a guest room with no other family around. I hope these lessons would stay with me and you all even after the lockdown is over.