P’s cousin has come down from Gurgaon. She has just finished her ICSE board exams and has come down for a FREEDOM break for a week. P had school until yesterday so she was pretty busy till now. She wasn’t allowed to sleep with her A didi till now because she sleeps in Alaska! Ac on 18 degrees along with the fan also. Since school got over she took the opportunity Last night and slept with her. As preparation for the night she took with her her jacket with hoodie, a thick blanket and wore 2 layers 😀….. but she survived! She slept well after a long time. She must have been super tired after her celebration in school yesterday.

So today we got an opportunity to volunteer at a hospital. There has been an art project going on in the paediatric ward of this hospital. To liven up the spaces where the kids come in the OPD. Sadly I couldn’t go myself. A is down with fever 😔. But I sent P and her cousin and my cousin went with them. The 3 of them were given the job of covering one wall. They used a reference image from the internet and created this……

P’s school had volunteered in the same place last December but we couldn’t go then. I got the opportunity through another social organisation a month ago and went with P. We got in touch with the lady who is organising the whole thing and through her we got the opportunity to go there again today.

It was a wonderful experience for the children and they came home exhausted but happy. Grateful to Ms Antara Bhargav for this wonderful opportunity and hopefully I’ll get to attend more in future.

Wow! I had no idea this book was so old. We never got to read it 😁. I found this book first at this little book store called “Book Stop” in kormanagala opposite the Krishna temple. Its a small cozy store with a lovely collection of books for kids and adults. I specifically like the kids collection. Books I cant see anywhere else I definitely see here. Eric Carle and tulika books I find here always.

Coming back to the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Its been a favourite in my house since 5years! First P and now A. They simply love the wonderful illustrations and the whole journey of the little caterpillar first turning into a big fat caterpillar and then into a beautiful butterfly. Whenever I reach the point at which the egg “pops” and out comes a little caterpillar, A will give out a little Pop sound and it really excites her to see the caterpillar. And then when the last page says “he was a beautiful butterfly” she will spread out her arms and say the words herself which such elation as if she herself has turned into a butterfly. And the point where he gets a stomach ache she will ask me each and every time, without fail, “uska pet kyon dukh raha hai? Woh kaise theek ho gaya?” (why is his stomach aching? How did he become all right?)

This little book with such a simple story has so many lessons in it.

1. The basic story of how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly is so exciting for the little ones. Its like magic for them. The caterpillar eats and sleeps and becomes a butterfly!

2. Counting for beginners! He eats 1 and then 2 and till 5 at least. So it expains the concept adding one fruit at a time and makes its simple to understand.

3. If you eat junk food your stomach will ache 😂. Infact in the last academic year, P’s school had taught them about junk food etc and they chose this very book to present a skit to the parents about their learning’s.

4. And as Eric Carle points out in the below article, “It is an affirmation to all children. It says: I too can grow up. I too can unfold my wings and fly into the world. I think it’s this message of hope.” This is the most beautiful message we can give our children. You can have your own beautiful wings. You can fly where you like and be a master of your dreams.

I personally like Eric Carle books a lot. Each one has something different and nice to offer. A life lesson, a life skill. So simply and beautifully explained. The little cut outs in books give so much more dimension to the stories. They are definitely one of the best series of books for pre schoolers.

Below is the article I found on this book turning 50.

The book has sold more than 50 million copies in 62 languages worldwide
— Read on people.com/books/the-very-hungry-caterpillar-book-turns-50/

Here’s something we made for P’s hindi project. She had to make an animal and its house. We decided on making the bear and his cave coz that’s one thing I could think of to make with paper mache 😁. Its not the best sculpting….. but turned out decent.

Making such projects is always fun. It helps us bring out our ideas and creativity. We collaborate to bring together our ideas. We plan the project , bring our resources together and work together as a team. P acts as the leader in making the final decisions as to what we are going to do. She takes my suggestions and adds her own and makes a final plan. So there are so many benefits of doing this stuff. I know it’s time consuming and sometimes can be really tedious…. but just see the benefits! Very do able and fun once in a while.

So here’s a brief description of what we did.

1. We got to work 3-4 days in advance. We made the cave first. Coz we had to give it time to dry so we could paint and stick it on the base. We used a balloon for the base of the cave and stuck the paper mache (bits of newspaper dipped in a solution of 1 part maida and 2 parts water) on half of it. After it dried the next day…. P just popped the balloon and we had our cave!

2. We made a list of what all we needed further and made a trip to Itsy Bitsy. Now the kids are always just looking for a reason to go there. They will go and collect all kinds of stuff which they will use up within an hour or keep it in the drawer and forget about it forever. A was most excited to go. “Mamma Anu ke liye kya lenge?” (Mamma what will we take for Anu?). She wants to buy those glittery pink and purple stickers all the time. The flowers and butterflies. So 2 more sticker sheets for her. We bought some green felt (for the base) and some hay looking stuff (which I later realised was only coconut husk 🙄) and a wooden dowel stick to make a tree (little did I realise that we wont need it coz we finally used a twig fallen on the road) and some brown acrylic paint.

3. One the way home we took a short walk on the street to collect some twigs to make trees and to spread over the forest floor. On reaching home we first started making the bear. I made a rough body out of bubble paper and cello tape and P covered it with paper mache and we left it to dry. (Needs overnight)

4. Next step was to get the base ready. We stuck the felt pieces on a thermocol base and painted the White edges in the same light green colour to cover it.

5. Then the painting of cave was done followed by sticking it (used hot glue) to the base and erecting a tree. The Initial idea was to have ‘some’ trees and trees with ‘foliage’ (P wanted to do that by painting cotton and sticking on it). But after we had the basic layout we thought that this was just right. So we spread some of the husk and stuck some small twigs around to give it the forest floor look.

The bear was still wet so had to be left for the day.

6. We let the bear dry over night. The next day P painted it and we finally stuck it on the base to complete the project!

Sometimes I look at A and I just get so overwhelmed. Since I’m done with having babies, I know I’m never going to have a little baby running around the place again. Her actions, the way she talks are just soooo adorable and I can’t get over squeezing and kissing her.

She’s always upto something. Pulling down things from the table. Putting all sorts of things in her mouth. Making funny noises and actions. Breaking out in a dance when she suddenly hears music. Making funny songs out of the songs she knows. Arranging all the sofa cushions on the floor. Fiddling with her grandmoms paint brushes. Saying her stomach is aching when she doesn’t want to eat anymore. Saying her hands are paining when she doesn’t want to drink her milk on her own or doesn’t want to wind up after play. Standing on the hot water bag.

Saying please in the most small little innocent voice when she really wants something. Then screaming and shouting and lying on the floor if she doesn’t get it. Posing with a sweet smile for a picture. Wanting to wear nail polish and her ghagra all the time. Hugging you tight with her chubby arms around you. Giving a sweet little kiss with her cute little baby lips.

She has an answer for everything. You cant win over her in an argument. She wants to know the name of the place where you’re going. Doesn’t matter if she cant make head or tail of it. Saying “uffo” and saying “kya bhi papa!” (Anything papa) when papa says something silly.

When you tell her you are naughty she says no I’m not naughty, papa is naughty. Talking pattar pattar in English. Wanting to go to her best friends house everyday. Coming back from school and flaunting her artwork. Asking for the iPad to watch peppa pig. Not wanting to play by herself EVER. Then saying “thodi der ke liye khelo na. Aa jao mamma”.

Wanting to read books endlessly. She can sit for hours together reading and re reading her favourite books. When I squeeze her she asks “aapne Ved (her 8 month old cousin) ko squeeze kyon nahin kiya?” ( Why dint you squeeze Ved?)

The list is endless and so is her list of adorableness (if that’s even a word). Cant get enough of you my darling cutie pie. I know she’s not a baby anymore. But I still see her that way. At 4 years I took P to the US for a 20 days vacation. I cant even imagine that with A. She will drive me crazier than P did 😁

So both the birthdays are done. After all the planning and all the anticipation we landed up doing small separate parties for them both. Since their age gap is 5 years I just could not fit into stuff for both of them together. P dint want any theme or any decoration or any kind of structured activities for her party. And A ….. I dint have enough kids to do a structured activity 😬 I don’t know too many of her friends. Only 4 of her close friends from her school. And she has 2 cousins her age. So there were only 6 of them.

P called her friends over at home. There were around 12 of them including her cousins. We played a few 1 minute games which they enjoyed throughly! And also we played a truth and dare game. I pulled off the game from the internet which had age appropriate questions and dares. It was good fun! They played football for a while in the garden and then we took them to a nearby cafe for snacks. It was a whirlwind of 3 hours but it was super fun. The return gifts were math and word search books with a perfumes pen each.

The next weekend we took A’s friends to a play zone called Funky Monkey. It’s an all time favourite with the kids and you just can’t go wrong there. The food was pretty sad but as long as the kids had a good time. The returns for her birthday were valentine themed craft kits which the kids enjoyed thoroughly. My friend ,Palak Poddar , in Mumbai makes these. Here’s a link to their fb page.

These are some of the activities which were in the box. A’s friends sent me some pics!

As we always do….. we don’t take gifts for our birthdays. My girls get to buy what they like from us. But the guests contribute to an NGO I volunteer with. Cuddles Foundation. We provide nutritional support to underprivileged children suffering with cancer. To know more or contribute you can go here.

People say that you shouldn’t take away the joy from children of opening birthday presents. Well…. we can do that with the presents we give too. And now a days our kids get things so often. Grandparents keep gifting and we also keep buying the latest stuff for them. Do they really need these presents?

I would rather instil in them the quality of giving. They need to understand that there are people out there who do not even get 2 square meals a day. Forget the toys we buy. I try to get them to empathise with people who do not have the abundance we do. We don’t do too much but at least their birthdays are opportunities.

After seeing the amount of wastage that happens on birthdays, P herself has now started telling me that mom please ask people not to bring gifts. Please ask them to donate to Cuddles instead. She saw the number of things which came which she dint even want. Some she already had. So she understood. A is not old enough to understand yet so I will explain to her when the time comes. I started this tradition of donation when P turned 6 and A turned 1. So it’s been 4 years and going strong.

The parties were small this time but were an equal amount of fun. I have said this before…. it doesn’t matter to children how big or small the party is. As long as they have fun with their friends, they are happy. So think about what your child would be happy doing and with who. That’s the clue for your birthday celebration.

A is a little tough one when it gets to getting her to play on her own. She can really stick to you and scream for attention. She always needs someone to be with her and play with her. Whether it’s lego or reading a book. Someone must be with her. Sometimes it gets a little tough because you’re trying to get some work done and all you can hear is “mamma khelo” and she clings on to your legs and makes you drag her around….. and suck her thumb 🙄

I try to ignore till I can. Talk to her or sing her some song. Sometimes I try to divert her by giving her a toy. But it only works for a couple of minutes and she is back! Phew!! It can be so exhausting trying to work and keep her occupied. 

A’s boredom busters

But a few days ago she surprised me. My nanny hadn’t turned up for work that day and my cook was also on leave. I had to cook and make sure she was busy (I had no idea how I would manage because trust me it was a first for me!) at first we started off with the same…. clinging, making her sit on the kitchen counter, answering her 10,000 questions. But slowly she wandered off. She went and started playing on her own and made up something. She was telling some story on her own and talking to herself. She gave me a good 1 hour to finish what I had to. 

Somewhere making her like this i think is my fault. There is always someone with her and she has never been left on her own to play. Or maybe that’s just the way she is. Don’t know. But with P I know there were so many times when I wanted to nap or I wanted to get something done and she was always happy to be on her own. Even as a baby if she was awake and I left her in the cot while I slept she would keep herself busy and sleep off. But not my A. She always needed someone’s attention. 

I gradually understood that if she is after me to play with her and I keep putting her off and be busy, she eventually gives up. After a few minutes of persuading she goes off and finds something to do. I don’t have to always give in to her cries. She will play on her own only if I let her. If I keep making an effort to keep her busy she won’t learn to do it on her own. Only if she is bored she will find something of her interest.

Once the guest list, venue and activities are in place I need to get into the details. Lots of little little things we need to see

4. The theme. Now we decide on the theme for the party. What’s my baby’s favourite character. What does she like. What’s in sync with the venue. Like last time we had the party at a dance and gymnastics center. So the theme was gymnastics. The invites, decor etc every thing was around that. Some people even co ordinate the food!! I don’t go to that extent…. but the rest of it… yes.

Themed decor for the Winnie the Pooh party (P’s 4th birthday)

Themed headbands and Khoi bags for caterpillar and butterfly party (P’s 3rd birthday)

5. The invites and return gifts. Once the main things of the party are decided I go on to designing the invites. I love making the invites myself also, so either it’s something crafty or I design it graphically myself. People have moved on from physical invitations to WhatsApp invitations. So now it’s about creating the perfect image. Even return gifts need to be thought about. Considering the age groups of children I need to see who will enjoy what. I broadly categorise them and get 2-3 categories of gifts based on age group. I really give a lot of thought into it because I hate giving junk just because it fits in my budget. (I’ve given personalised cushions, gardening kits with a small planter and seeds, science experiment kit, books etc). Frankly I found personalising gifts pretty useless. Sometimes people don’t turn up and then you’re left with gifts you can’t give to anyone else also. Then you’re running around trying to give the gifts and then those people give you a gift because you gave them one and it gets too complicated. The return gift tags and the wrapping paper are co ordinated with the theme.

The return gifts we’re home gardening kit with planters and tools. Made thank you tags for the Winnie the Pooh theme.

6. The food. Food is something which gets a bit complicated. Because there are so many ages of people eating it’s tough to decide. The little ones don’t eat too many things, the older ones still have a wider range of things you can choose from and for the adults you need to give something filling. Coz no one usually eats dinner or lunch after they go back from a party. Pizza , pasta, French fries and smileys are staple food for parties of these kids. And yes Noodles! After you choose 2-3 of these you need to have like 1 main course item like chole bhature or Pav Bhaji or something so that the adults can enjoy the meals.

7. The Cake! That’s one thing which depends on what you’re looking for. From experience I have seen that the fancy ones are not that tasty and the tasty ones are not all that fancy. By fancy I mean a cake that’s done for your theme. Although now a days we do have many bakers who do a pretty good job so that the taste and beauty, both are there. But let’s face it…. they are expensive. So if you’re willing to spend a bomb on the cake only you can go for them.

The beautiful themed cake for the Pooh party

After all these considerations, you also need to see if it all fits in your budget. Sometimes we go overboard and in the end everything becomes a hotch potch. No one enjoys the party and you land up spending too much money. (Never happened to me though 😃) Always remember that celebrating your child’s birthday is about celebrating your child. Celebrating each birthday is like crossing another milestone. Have fun but keep it simple and something you can handle. And if you can’t do it yourself, ask for help! You will be surprised on how much people around you will help you.

And of course if you can’t have a party there is nothing to fret. Having a party is for our satisfaction. Not the child’s. They are happy with spending their birthday with family and a few selected friends. Have it small but make it special. Play good old party games at homes or take the friends to a play area. Birthday parties have become big business now a days. I will admit even I cashed in on that 😉. It’s nice that people want to celebrate. But it’s become a social status thingie. My party is bigger, my return gifts are better, I got a better party planner etc etc. In the end it boils down to….”my party is better than yours!”. The child gives a damn.

My girls’ birthdays are hardly a month away and it’s time to start planning (rather a little late but you know what they say….better late than never). Their birthdays are on 14th and 15th Feb. The first is a Valentine baby and the second is a step ahead! Everyone is like you better watch out when these girls grow up!!

I’ve always celebrated their birthdays together till now. But now the older is going to be 9 and the younger is going to be 4. It’s going to be impossible to do something which interests both! The younger will enjoy a theme party and the older doesn’t want a theme at all. P doesn’t want a party at all.

Planning their parties has always been a huge affair for me. I’m a crafty person and love decorating their parties. I want them to be grand and beautiful and pretty looking parties and everyone has to have a great time. So many things to consider. I usually follow the following:

1. The guest list. The first step is determining how many kids and of what ages are going to come. First are their cousins and then their friends. When they are 1,2,3,4 years old they hardly have a list themselves. I have to create the crowd. Invite my friends with little kids and invite her entire class. Then I can get a decent number of 12-15 kids so they can have some activities.

2. The Venue. The venue is dependant the activities and the number of guests. I always prefer a venue which is open to air and has lots of space for the kids to run around. After all that’s what they love doing most at that age. Even as P got older we preferred to choose a place where the kids can have physical activity to do. P herself is a very bubbly child. Always jumping and dancing around. So it’s nice to have something where they can spend their energy. And the kids (girls and boys alike) have always enjoyed them.

I try to make sure that the venue is bigger for the number of people. No one likes a crowded place with little place to move around. Also whether the venue has its own catering or no.

3. The Activities. You need to choose your activities wisely. Consider the age of the kids. Consider the gender of the kids. I like to choose activities which both genders enjoy equally. I usually have physical activities because I have seen that girls now a days also enjoy sporty activities. It’s no more that the girls are quiet or like to sit in one place and play quietly. For younger children I’ve had a musical and dance activity. This group comes and entertains the kids for about an hour. There is music and dance and bubbles! Kids between 3-5 really enjoy it. Then I’ve had this sporty group come and entertain kids with obstacle courses and sports activities. Kids of all ages enjoy this.

The tattoo artist is a must! Kids simply love the art on their arms or faces. Getting a painting of their choice on their arms is super exciting for them. And yes…. the Khoi bag! (Piñata) The kids simply freak out on this one. The whole anticipation of the goodies falling out and collecting them as fast as they can is so exciting for them.

Well… this is the beginning. Still so many more things. I’m going to complete the list in my next post. Until then….

As I was feeding A breakfast today she suddenly said “mamma jab mein aane wali thi to didi boli usko brother nahin chahiye. Aur mein aa gayi”( mamma when I was going to be born, didi said she doesn’t want a brother. And then I came) and she gave out a little giggle.

It took me back to the time when I had conceived A and it was almost time to tell P that she was going to have a sibling soon. It was a kind of telepathy she had. P and I were actually on vacation to the US. I had probably conceived before I left and I dint know. I traveled, picked up suitcases and did everything possible on that trip without knowing I was pregnant. It was only once I came back home and I tested, I knew it was positive. I dint tell P yet. I was trying to figure out how I want to make it easy on her. While we were still thinking about all this…. one day out of the blue she tells me mamma I want a baby . I was a little taken aback. How can her timing be so exact?

I asked her if she wanted a brother or sister or either was ok. She was very specific she wanted a sister! So I told her…. ok. Lets all pray to God together that you get a baby sister soon. We played along for a few days and then finally I told her. That her sibling was in my tummy. I had to drill it into her head that you better be prepared for a brother also. Because God just gives us a baby. Even He doesn’t know whether boy or girl. So we spent the days of pregnancy in anticipation and preparation and a LOT of excitement. I heard when I was in the labour room the nurse asked her what she wanted and she still said “sister”. And she was ecstatic when she knew it was a girl 😃(So was I! My husband says “you should’ve seen your face”)

I had heard and experienced enough sibling rivalry and I was very clear that I will not let that happen between my children. I will not let P be left out or feel alone in any way so that she grows to love her little sibling. I read books about it to her and talked to her in every way I could. She was almost 5 years old then so she was pretty grown up. Her papa and I decided that he would spend more time with her each day after the baby comes so she gets at least one parents undivided attention. And he did…. everyday he would come home earlier from work and sit with her and play and read to her and feed her dinner. He helped a tremendous lot during the first couple of months so that she felt comfortable.

I also made an effort everyday to read at least 1 book to her and check her homework. In our culture we have a 40 day rest period for a new mom so she can recuperate from the birthing. So I was just in my room all the time. I had a help who would be there during the day and help out with her. Plus I had my mother in law and my mom. So support system was complete.

We all tried our level best to make P as comfortable as possible and as loved as possible. Books say involve the older one in taking care of the new baby etc. To a point its fine. But I think we need to give them their own space also to think and digest everything that’s going on. P is not a very affectionate person by nature. She does what she has to and she rather be on her own. Her involvement at that time was pretty minimal and she would just come around to hang out and maybe play with her baby sister. I did feel she was aloof initially but eventually she came around.

I wont say she is a perfect older daughter and never fights with her sister. Their age gap is 5 years so it’s difficult to keep them engaged together for too long. But at least when I need her to, she keeps her busy. Entertains her, feeds her, bathes her. The only thing she cant do yet is put her to bed 😁. If they want they both can really have a blast.

So I’m thankful to God for giving me these beautiful daughters. Grateful that they are happy and healthy children. (Even though they are the fussiest eaters on this planet!)

Well… I know it’s a bit late for the Christmas wishes but it’s Happy New Year and my best wishes to all you people reading my blog! May this new year bring lots of happiness and laughter….. 🥂

This picture is of a Secret Santa card P made for school. In school they play secret Santa for a few days where everyday they have to make something and take. It can be a greeting card, a poem, a handmade gift like a piece of jewellery or anything else….. but handmade. Only on the last day they have to give a gift under ₹200.

I think it’s really sweet that they encourage children to take something handmade. Otherwise it’s just so easy to buy something off the shelf. When they make it they actually think of the other person. Analyse what’s good for her/him and put in the love and effort to make it. Someone said they like to send a little gift everyday instead. It’s nice to receive a surprise. While I appreciate their sentiment I feel we must encourage children to move away from the material and get closer to the emotional connect. The emotion behind a handmade gift is so different from a store bought gift. Although the person who buys a gift also puts in some thought on what to buy and all. But still…. maybe because I’m a crafty person and I value the effort and feel more emotionally connected when I actually create something with my own hands.

Well… this Christmas and new year the kids spent with their Nani and Abhi bhaiya (my brother’s son. He’s 13). They were down from Mumbai for a little over a week. We went to every possible mall for gaming. Ate so much out side junk. Everyday it was something new. Mtr, pizza, Chinese, and so much more. Heavy heavy food and lots of desserts. We also went Wonderla, our local amusement park. We dint do the water rides but did quite a few of the others. Mostly P and A had the max fun. Coz Abhi was a bit mid age. He cudnt sit in the kids rides and dint want to sit in the super adventurous adult rides (well… I wudnt sit in them either 😛). And the last day we went to the factory where we have our embroidery room. There are over 7000 bottles of embroidery material there. Beads, sequins, hangings in all sizes, colours and shapes. Abhi and P went crazy pulling out the stuff they want and filling packets of material.

P and A had such a good time these past few days. We just dropped to the airport this morning. They are going to miss them. Especially A. She gets very connected to people. She had been calling Nani every few days and asking her when she is going to come. Even when she went to sleep last night (they had to leave early today for their flight back home) she kept asking why Nani and Abhi bhaiya won’t be there when she wakes up in the morning.

New year is all about new aspirations, new resolutions, new hopes. As we enter the new year we like to reflect back on the last year and think about all that happened. Good things and bad things. Things we could have done better and things which were not in our control. Only hoping the next year will be better than the last. And of course…. the universal resolution which everyone makes…. we will exercise more this year. 😁 Every time I think of that it’s like…. I still have those last few kilos left to shake off till I get to my pre babies weight. So let’s get to work. I did decent last year and hope to continue.

New year also means party time! As youngsters we always thought about which party to go for? Let’s buy the passes before they sell out. But as we grow older and have kids and all we get mellowed down and prefer to have a house party so the kids are also comfortable and can enjoy. Although I still wouldn’t mind dancing all night 😜. But in the best interest of my almost 9 and 4 year olds and the 38 year old (my husband) it’s best to stick to a house party. But it’s fun this way also. Usually all cousins get together and play poker and have a really good time. This time we only played board games with Abhi bhaiya and Nani. But that was a different fun too.

When we got back from the factory yesterday… P had the sweetest idea. She wanted to make bracelets as new year gifts for her grandmoms. That too from the beads and sequins she collected from factory. And as soon as she sat down to make them Abhi also contributed from his collection. And the results were wonderful. She needed a little help with tying the links and stringing them. But in general she designed them.

So as the holidays end we await the schools to start again…. this time for a good 3 months WITHOUT a break 😃😃. Hopefully there won’t be any unnecessary bandhs!

And I forgot this sweet message my darling gave me