MONSOON TIPS FOR A FAMILY

I love monsoon, especially roaming with an umbrella, those muddy puddles, and wearing raincoat and muddy toes. Ahhh...!

When this happened (in my working Era)I used to get irritated. But now as a stay-at-home mom, I am craving this. 😬

TRUE!

All stay-at-home mommies, can this be relatable?

Last Sunday we went to Reliance for a monthly grocery visit in the rain. There were muddy puddles, and my little one always asked me to take her in the rain. I took her; she enjoyed it a lot, got wet, and jumped in muddy puddles, and I too enjoyed this phase. Without worrying and irritating her, I let her enjoy the way she wants.

That is my achievement. 🤩 Calming, Mom!

Anyways, this will not happen every day. ☹️ Sharing here some tips that I have followed for the last 8 years, especially for monsoon, to keep my family healthy.

MONSOON TIPS FOR A FAMILY : 

1. DECLUTTER YOUR BALCONIES

We tend to put unused things on the balcony, like a toy cycle stool. The list will never end. Make sure before the monsoon to declutter your balconies. Keep it empty and clean so that even if water comes inside you, you can quickly wipe it, and there is less chance of insects and mosquitoes.

2. MOSQUITO NETTING ON WINDOWS 

In summer we used to keep open windows, but in monsoon don't forget to put up netted windows. This will help in preventing bugs, houseflies, and mosquitoes in your house.

3. WATER PURIFIER 

Most of the diseases are waterborne. To take extra care of your family, use a purifier. Take a new water purifier if you don't have one or do maintenance before the monsoon starts. So that you can have clean water. Carry home water in bottles wherever you go.

4. HOT /LUKEWARM WATER

If any of your family members feel cold, don't forget to have a hot water intake. Try to have it on rainy days so that it will keep your kids and other family members warm. Generally I used to give them lukewarm water to drink every day in the monsoon.

5. PRECAUTIONS WHILE BUYING VEGETABLE: 

Avoid leafy vegetables and root vegetables. I still took carrot and ginger, as these are staples because chai to adrak b ke bina nahi banati. Avoid buying cauliflower, and cabbage.

6. Soups SOUPS MANDATORY IN DIET

Homemade veggie-loaded soups are a must in kids diets. Though in market there are readymade soups available. Ditch that packaged food and try to make at home. Fresh and hygiene soups should be there in your meals. I tried to make it at least twice in a week. Check out the easy recipe of corn soup 

7. GUMBOOT, UMBRELLA  and RAINCOAT

These are mandatory. Check it out once it is available in the house to see whether it is in good condition. Buy new only if needed. But each member should have an umbrella or raincoat. Monsoon sandals are also mandatory. Moms, don't forget to buy a new pair for you even if you are staying at home.

8. HYGIENE :

Keeping your kids safe during monsoon is a very tough job. Make a habit of washing hands with soap and water before eating anything. Also wash your kids hands, legs, and toes properly with mild soap after playing.

9. TRAVEL KIT IN MONSOON : 

Rainy season and travel are the most important parts of life. Don't forget to go out in lovely weather with your babies and kids. However, you need to take extra care while travelling with babies or small kids.

Carry the following things while travelling in monsoon:

- Sturdy bags to accommodate enough things.

- Carry bags to put wet clothes or garbage.

- Wet wipes to wipe out dirt.

- Raincoat and rainy season shoes

- Clean water bottles

- Diapers and sanitizer

- Extra pair of clothes, hand towels, and handkerchief

- homemade dry snacks like chakali, chikki, laddu, etc.

- Mosquito repellent spray.

10. DRESS ACCORDINGLY MONSOON :

Although if it is not raining and kids want to play outside, put on a full-sleeved t-shirt and full pants to cover their whole body. And once they returned home, they took out those clothes and put them in the washer. Have clothes which can dry easily in monsoon season. Avoid heavy fabric clothes. 

CONCLUSION:

Monsoon season is one of the most beautiful seasons of the year. It is a natural cleanser of the earth. Don't keep your kids inside the house only. Let them get wet, let them play, and let them enjoy the rain. With the above tips, you can take precautions to protect your kids and families. Don't forget to enjoy yourself too.

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Question of the day

What kind of precautions do you take in monsoon? 

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SOLO DATE IDEAS FOR MOMS

Things I Want to Do with Myself—Solo Date

I am a mom, and after reaching 40, I recognize the true meaning of "LOVE." Acceptance and compromise is the new love language we moms learned very well. Education, career, marriage, and then kids...our life is a roller coaster, and how often do we love ourselves?

Very little time! I think we realize the value of self-love at this age only. Where we assume we are settled 🤞 in technical words, but actually still struggling, and we convince our mind that it is okay!

It happened to me too. After struggling, crying, and laughing with kids, I realized there are many things that I always wanted to do, and I always tell myself... Ohh...it's okay...will do it next time. And next time never came. So this year I decided to create a bucket list and stick it to my wardrobe. My goal is to tick out as much as possible.

SOLO DATE IDEAS FOR MOMS

We all have many things in our minds that we didn't achieve due to the "mommy" circumstances. So if you are a mom or woman, please do consider this FEBRUARY month as a SELF LOVE month and date with yourself.

1) GO TO THE BEACH:

Yes. I always find calmness at the beach. But now I wanted to go alone all by myself. To walk on the sand barefoot. Play with waves. Sit at bay and watch the sunrise and observe what the sea, sand, and sun are trying to tell.

2) LIBRARY VISIT:

If you are a book nerd, then I am sure you must have your favorite library. I want to spend a whole day reading and learning in a pin-drop silence atmosphere.

Book Review  of SILK ROUTE SPY 

Favourite books - 7 to 10 years old

3) SPA

Yeah...you might have been at SPA, but I am not yet. I want to give this spa a treat for myself. I want to feel that "SPA SESSION."

4) SIP and PAINT PARTY:

I saw these sip and paint parties many times. People are sitting with canvas, color, and drink, and the coach is there to guide them. I want to attend this paint party.

Moms, do you love paintings or you wanted to do it since your childhood and couldn't get the chance. Then book your session with this kind of sip and paint party and enjoy this solo date.

5) SOLO TRAVELING IN HIMALAYA:

I love Himachal, especially for the mountains and cool breeze, rivers, and, of course, pahadi food. I want to explore this place all by myself. I have been here with family, but all I want to do is travel all by myself and have a thrilling experience.

Check out this Beauty of Kashmir 

6) SOLO SHOPPING AT MALLS:

We moms always shop for our kids and often visit malls with our kids. But I really want to go alone and shop peacefully. No cranky kiddo, no picking up, nothing. Just me and my shopping.

7) MEDITATION AT GARDEN:

Moms, you can do this meditation at your society garden early in the morning or else join yourself with a meditation group.

We mom always wanted to do meditation, but with kids, it is almost impossible until your kids become 10 years old. I wanted to attend that meditation class, which is conducted in the garden. With greenery and peace, I want to connect myself with my soul.

8) WANT TO DECORATE A PINTEREST FRIENDLY HOME OFFICE:

Moms, you can decorate your home office the way you want. Any pending wishlist with this office—it is time to complete this.

Yes! This is my long-pending list, which I want to do solely. My desk sometimes looks like a dumping station of our house. I want to have dedicated office space, which I decorate with all Pinterest-friendly aesthetic decor items.

9) SELF - CARE ROUTINE: 

As a mom or wife, I literally forgot to take care of myself. My hair, my face, and my skin were constantly staring at me, and I ignored them like a pro. 😐

If you are in the same boat, then please take out time at least once a week and take care of your hair, skin, and nails.

10) VISIT A CAFE WITH SUNFLOWER BOUQUET :

I love flowers. But since I became a mom, I forgot these things. I tend to avoid bring anything like this, which will be broken in a few hours 😞 by kids.

But if your kids are grown up, you can visit a beautiful flower shop and buy a customized flower bouquet for yourself. Don't wait for your husband to bring it for you. Do it by yourself and see the magic.

18 fun love date ideas to keep your marriage fresh 

There are many things that are practically possible to do as a mom for our solo date.

• Take yourself to the movies.
• Visit the park and observe the people.
• Visit your favorite bookstore.
• Paint your nails the way you want.
• Take away your favorite food and watch Netflix for hours on the couch.
• Go for an evening walk.
• Do some painting/crocheting/threading work that you learned at school.
• Treat yourself at an ice cream shop.
• Take yourself to watch plays.
• Enjoy rides at Essel World or Imagica.
• Create a vision board.
• Learn sketching or calligraphy.
• Do yoga.

I hope you like all the solo date ideas. Mark it on the calendar.  Start picking at least one for a month and have a lovely date with yourself. Love yourself, then only you can love your family.

Question of the day

Have you been on a solo date? Share the experience?

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This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla.

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सिया टेल - तू घाबरु नको

 सिया टेल - तू घाबरु नको 

PS : Google 

आम्ही तिघी means मी, सिया आणि इरा बसून dough सोबत खेळत होतो. मी घरचे पीठ खेळायला देते. खाले तरी काही tension नाही. एक तास आम्ही खूप छान खेळत होतो आणि अचानक फायर ची bell वाजली. मी दरवाजा उघडून बघीतला तर काहीच नव्हते. परत आम्ही आमच्या ॲक्टिव्हिटी मधे busy झालो.

आमच्या कडे गेले दोन महिने काम चालू आहे. सतत आपला आवाज आणि धूळ. कंटाळा आला पण काम काही संपत नाही. आम्ही घरात खेळत होतो आणि फायर ची bell वाजली. माझी सिया मला बोलते,

तू घाबरु नको मम्मी, काम चालू आहे.

I said, okay madam.

परत पुन्हा पुन्हा bell ring होत होती. 

आणि finally माझी सिया बोलते, मी आहे ना mumy, तू घाबरु नको. खाली काम चालू आहे.

मुली कधी mature होतात कळतच नाही. 

तुमच्या सोबत असे काही झाले का? कमेंट बॉक्स मधे

 सांगा. 

A peaceful morning with toddlers

A peaceful morning start is a great way to have a good day. Everyone wants to start a day peacefully. As a mom I am trying to have a calm morning. But it is possible only when I have my morning cup of tea -- To recharge myself and to recharge the whole house. 

Hope you relate with it mommy?

Until my twins were small babies our routine was set but as soon as they grew up and started walking my morning routine was falling down. It becomes clumsy and often I lose my temper. It was very difficult to get myself recharged for the day. 

I cried, I shouted, I screamed and finally I turned to them in front of the screen. I know none of this was going to work in the long run. I was struggling. 

When you become a mom everything depends on having a solid routine. Routine which helps toddlers to understand what they have to do and what mummy is going to do after every 10 to 15 minutes. Like, They have to brush  teeth, ( of course mummy is going to do it for them) , they have to let mumma cook breakfast for them, they have to let mumma have tea, and blaa blaa blaa....

Finally I decided to make some changes to have less tantrums in the morning. After many trials it worked. 

PATIENCE 

Every morning is different and one thing I realised is to adapt to the present time. Whatever happens I have my morning tea with light breakfast is my first priority. Then only I can start my day.

Sharing some tips how I am having peaceful morning. This helps me a lot in handling twins toddlers. It may help you to have some peace in the morning as a toddler mom. 

Morning Walk : 

Some mornings we have  a morning walk. Yes, right after waking and cuddling. Fresh morning air and sunlight freshen up three of us.  They run, walk, collect leaves, sticks and enjoy the birds tweets. We tend to go for morning walks twice a week. Yes it is twice only for less tantrums.😑 ( You know, right)

 

Dance Party 

Some mornings start on cry mode. It is very difficult to soothe both of them at the same time. So I decided to have some dance movements. Black Pink is currently our favourite and whenever I turned it on the screen both my twins began to dance. I also joined them to cheer up. We have lots of fun.

Books 

Books are the most therapeutic for everyone. I usually put two favourite books near our bed. So if they wake up in the morning and I was not nearby then they can simply get up from the bed and start flipping their book. It is the best part where I don't have to pay attentions.

Toy Box

I have this small box which I used to fill up at night. I put only two three favourite toys and kept them on our centre table in the living room. Once they get up from the bed even if they are crying they can easily get  involved with this toy Box. 

Poem Recitation:

I recited poems when they were two months old. Now one of my toddlers is very well versed with the poem. She sang by herself and that is the most adorable part for me. The way she sang in her vocabulary melts my heart. She almost sang 4 to 5 poems in her  language. Both of them enjoyed this poem recitation process with the act. Apart from morning routine It mostly happened on my twins demand too in a whole day.😇

Reading and Learning

Reading a book again and again helps them to understand the words. We all know to instill a reading habit you have to start early. 

Study shows early years ( 1 to 5 years) is very important for our kids. They learnt quickly whatever you are going to teach them. I have my own experience with my older daughter.

Books are always good over screen, right? I started to read this book when she was 5 months old. Now she knows 90% of it. She pronounced every word very well. Check it out here.

My method worked well with my older one. With the same experience I tried to repeat the pattern with twins. It was difficult but yes with patience and practice it worked.

These are some tips which worked for me to have a peaceful morning. It help my twins to calm down and help me 😁 to calm down. Being in a nuclear family and when you are the sole person to take care of everything then you must thrive on peaceful morning. Once you have set the routine everything goes smoothly. Just you need to learn to stay calm😐

Helpful key points : 

1. Always  use your experience and set things which is really helpful to you and your toddlers. Morning tantrums are irritating.

2. Do not get trapped in social media and try your own. 

3. Have patience. Yes to set a routine you have to have patience. It requires lots of time to set the routine. 

4.  Stay calm. Irritation only disturbs our mind and mood. Stay calm and connect your babies. 

5. Connect your toddlers with patience and love. 

Conclusion: 

Having a peaceful morning for a mom with toddler is very important to have a good start of the day. Chances are more to have independent play. Babies and toddlers always want to be with mommy and so be with them at least for the starting period. Once they get busy slowly get away. Observe them and let them play.

Kids learn fast when you have repeated courses of action. Be creative and keep your house filled with toys, books, music and most importantly your unconditional love.

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Bohemian Bibliophile.

Questions for the Day 

Do you have any specific morning routine? Are you a toddler mom and follow any special morning routine? 

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©Neeta Kadam. This article and image are the property of Memory Flies. Any unauthorized use or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited.

SUPPORT SYSTEM THAT EVERY MOM NEEDS

SUPPORT SYSTEM THAT EVERY MOM NEEDS 

We moms are always in a roller coaster. Whether it is every day school, Every day tiffin for Mr. Hubby, bath and feed to your little one, feeding the elder one in a family and...list will go on and on ......

Roller coaster ride. 

We all need our support system. Every mom should have at least one support system to PAUSE, REFRESH and to RESTART.

But the question is how ?

A support system is actually a person with whom you can relax, cry, laugh, travel, have fun and recharge yourself. 

We have to find one person who brings joy to our face. 🥰

Why is this Support System required?

In simple terms to maintain our mental health. 

Yes.

It is very important to take care of our mental health as we are catering to many services of mom, wife, daughter in law, chef, laundry woman, decorator, party organisers, nutritionist and many more.

The more responsibility the more mental load. 

And so we need our support system.

To,

1) Reduce stress :

Our support system helps in reducing anxiety and stress. Just spending time with your loved one increases your happy hormones and so is the mood.

2) Build Self Esteem:

While juggling with an all-to-do list our self esteem goes down. Sometimes we didn't recognise ourselves and so we are on the verge of losing ourselves.

Our support system, the one with whom we can talk, share our stress and take help as much as possible to rebuild our self esteem.

3) Emotional Support

We go through many emotional turmoil and all we need is one friend who understands our emotions and feelings. To vent it out we need that support. This supports not only lift you up in your difficult time but also being your guide and showing us the correct way.

4) Motivator 

Our support system is the one where we can find our motivation. The one person who motivates us thoroughly without any selfishness. Our support will aways tried hard to reach us at our destination. No matter how difficult the journey this motivator always Patt you and makes you ready for the ride.With this support we can reach out to our potential.

5. Improve health

With the right kind of support system our physical as well as emotional health also start healing and so improve our well-being.

We feel we are healthy and Happy.

I personally found the support system always boosted.  I have support system - Mr.Hubby, my friend and my daughter. With these people I overcome my depression. Found my way of living life and let out my stress in proper way. 

You are not alone. We all moms once goes through the depression, anxiety and our harmonal started to imbalance and that turned badly on our health. 

 

So find your support system which is always around you. Feel free to share your load with them and take care of yourself.

Question of the day.

We have different support system at different phase of life. Which one is the best support system you have in your life?

This post was created for the Blogaberry Creative (Monthly) Challenge.

This blog post is a part of the blog challenge ‘BlogaberryDazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Mads’ Cookhouse.

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©Neeta Kadam. This article and image are the property of Memory Flies. Any unauthorized use or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited.

6 Things I Learnt As Twin Mom

6 Things I learned newly as twin mom compared to single kid mom

Motherhood is the blessing and NOT everyone can have this privilege. Whether you are new mom or second time mom or third time mom, everytime you get to learn something new because every pregnancy is different and so baby too. This time with twin babies I learned  lots of things newly. Twin baby is very difficult motherhood era for me due to nuclear family set up. 

When you become second time mother you are more confident, right? You are NOT easily get panic when baby is crying. You know exactly what does your baby want ? Something like that happened to me too. I am pretty sure to handle everything by single handle - no - no - I am not alone, this time I have my 9 year old daughter and with her this twin motherhood journey was exciting and terrific. I am always grateful to the God for giving me my darling. 

When my elder ONE born I was emotional for  everything like cleanliness, baby food, baby bath, baby emotions etc. As compared to that,  this time I am barely care. I keep them crying because I know the reason and if I can't get back in that time . So let it be for some time. 😑😊 

Yes! Sometimes you have to be practical.

Things I learnt as a twin mom, that every mom should learn if possible. I can say this is the way you can enjoy your motherhood journey calmly. Yes. Calmly! 

It is quite difficult to be calm but with practice you can be a calm mom. Anger and irritation is the part of motherhood. I can't say we should avoid this. It is not at all possible. But we can minimise it. Because if we are happy then family is happy. 

Sharing what I learnt and survive 😜

Swaddling /Comfort: 

Your baby sleep well when you swaddle her or him properly. I had the experience, but this time I am so confident about it like the length of swaddling clothes, how to swaddle and how tight or loose you can swaddle and the most important how quickly you can swaddle the crying baby in a minute. My twins had 2 to 3 hour undisturbed sleep.  

I swaddled them after bath,  in the afternoon and mostly at night. I used to give swaddle less time when they felt uncomfortable. Baby's comfort is the most important thing which helps them in sleeping. 

Sleep schedule : 

This is totally new to me. With my older one I never took any efforts to have strict sleep schedule because I didn't need that. You can say as a new mom I  never keep HER away from me. So I never understand the importance of sleep schedule. 

I have been told from first day of my baby to have strict sleep schedule then only you can have REST! 

And I mean it. So I literally wrote sleep time of my babies in my diary. Due to Instagram I am able to know the sleep pattern of babies. I STUDY that and it is helpful.  I try to follow the strict schedule and so my babies were no more cranky. They had full sleep. I had quite manageable time. 

Now they are 15 months old and still we follow sleep schedule strictly. Current sleep schedule is after every 4 HR gap . Sleep May remain upto 2 HR and some time it stretches to 4 HR too with feeding.

Happy Me !

Connect to babies

This is new because I am able to connect with both of them. They are good observer and quick learner. I didn't teach them. They observe and follow. Talk, activity, songs, play are the part of connection. Babies love to connect with you. They eager to talk with you. They listen and understand. Yes, it is true. It is very important to take out time to set the connection. Because with twins daily schedule is quite hectic. 

Tandem Breastfeeding  twin 

When I was pregnant I was worried about feeding. How can I feed my both twins? I saw tons of video and try to educated myself. 

I learned Tandem feeding where you can feed your twins at the same time. The day I reached home after my hospital session, very first time I tried Tandem Feeding and voila. I succed!  Only difficulty was to burp them . But slowly I learnt that.

When my friend saw this they feel surprised and sometimes pitty. But I am happy that I can breastfeed them and both are healthy fulfilled. (Touch wood)😊

Your gut than everyone's advise

During this period I always trust my gutt. Yes! Mumma. Your gut feeling is always accurate 90% rather than any parenting books. Do not act even according to advice given by the visitors. They always told you their experience. Everyone motherhood journey is different. So listen, learn but don't apply blindly. Trust your instincts and your knowledge.

Let them free from you 

The more baby free from you more they learn to play independently. Try to give them floor time as much as possible. Being a twin mom it is very important to cuddle both of them. Cuddling, hugging and playing always together. They able to play more with each other.

Okay, let me confess, 

Twin motherhood is the most difficult journey for me. I cried a lot. Feel guilty and most of the times feel depressed too. 

But.

I reminded myself it was our decision. I was mentally prepared for this journey. And I was the most happiest person in my family when we came to know that we had twins.

Instead of that stress I concentrate - 

💜 To flow with current direction.

💜 Time is temporary.

💜 Every day is new challenge and it will end soon. 

💜 Tried to fill up every day with loads of love.

💜 Filled the home with lots of laughter, being connected with each other and every one work as a family. 

💜 Last but not the least less bothered about how my house look like? 

I kept my house baby friendly so my baby can move around the whole house and I don't need to check them on again and again. We put out all furniture in our balcony and make the room spacious.

Yes, it was difficult, for me and our family too. But the way these tiny human being watching me, depending on me, hug me and love me,  I forgot everything and charged automatically to be with them. 

I believe I am the lucky ones and so always grateful to the Universe for giving me the opportunity of twin motherhood. 

Comparatively I enjoyed this twin motherhood journey mindfully and this is the best phase of my life where I learnt lots of things which helps me to develop in a better human being. 

Question for the day?

Do you take life challenge positively? Do you cry more or challenge your self?

This post was created for the Blogaberry Creative (Monthly) Challenge.

©Neeta Kadam. This article and image are the property of Memory Flies. Any unauthorized use or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited.