Showing posts with label motherhood. Show all posts

Tips For Road Trip With a Small Kids

PS: befamilytravel.com

Summer vacation are going to end very soon. But somehow our family travel still going on. Some had exotic vacation like Maldives 😉 and some had upto moms places. We moms are eagerly waiting for vacation to meet our mom and dad! People travel by road, rail, air and sea.

I am going to talk about Road Travel. People who travel by car with toddler or even with the small kids. Most of moms are still messy when it comes to travel. I saw people used to fill train or car with their litters. Have you experienced this ?

I love to travel by train. But travelling by car with our little one is little bit hectic. Yes, we plan adventurous road family trip with kids but it should be fun and filled with joy. Is that possible?

Yes! Definitely.

Sharing some tips which I mostly follow on road trip. If you have toddlers or small kids then not to worry.

Let's start.

Even if your journey is small or long kids get tired easily. To keep them engaged is a daunting task for every parents. Continues pee break irritate some parents and we ended up in giving screen in their hands.

Do you feel it in same way?

Here are some practical tips which I followed to have smooth road trips.

👕Wear comfortable clothes

Child's comfort is most important in any trips. Always choose the clothes in which your child is comfotable. A simple t-shirt and pant is go to. Because they are traveling so give this choice to them but at the same time put only that clothes in front of them which you think comfortable for them.,😉 (Cheating)

Keep extra blanket, caps, pillow for comfort.

Fill your car with extra blankets, pillow and warm caps. If you are traveling in winter or at night. It will give them a nice sleep in the car.

Keep napkins and wet tissue papers. :

Specially when you are travelling with kids such wet napkins are handy. Extra Napkins, handkerchief should be in your bag pack. Keep one pair of clothes in your bag pack. You never know potty and pee and sometime vomiting 😐are part of travelling.

If you are traveling with babies then you should keep one trash bag to dispose the diapers. If you are traveling with small kids then you have to keep extra pair of clothes including undergarments.

👟Wear shoes or sneekers to your kids.

Do not ask your kids to wear fancy shoes . It is always advisable to have shoes with socks. Ask them to remove the shoe inside the car.

🍏Carry homemade foods

Carry lots of fruits like grapes, orange, strawberry which are easy to peel and finished quickly. Fruits always keep them hydrate and filled.

Try to take homemade paratha, chikki, til or rajgira laddo which are easy to eat. Instead of taking packaged food which might cause stomach upset. Allow to have one or two chips or tangy food instead of chocolates but in a limited quantity.

🥤Carry water

Yes this is the most important tips. Instead of purchasing water from outside it is more beneficial to carry your own water bottles. Pack a whole bag of this bottle and use thought the trip.

🐶Carry Toys

Have kids favourite one soft toy always. Do not get irritated when your kid want to take toys with them. They love to be with their toy and we should respect their feeling. Allow one or two toys only. This will make them happy and ultimately you are happy too.

🚽Take Toilet Breaks:

Take this small breaks and allow your kids to use public washroom for freshen up. Always take such bathroom break near the park or hotels which have the park. Let them enjoy so that they can stretch out the legs.

Sing a song and have funny Q and A

😛Keep talking with them so that they will enjoy. If kids ask, have we reach?tell them we will reach on time. You are not allowed to ask the same question again and again. You can ask any other question. Then see the curiosity and start the conversation. This will increase imagination and curiosity of your child.

Sing a song together. Play antakshari they will enjoy and you too.

Play games :

Like count trees, name the cloud shape, read board on highway (our favourite one), name cars and vehicles, observe the mirror. Try to give out answer of every curious questions.without using Google.😉

Technology

Try to use less as much as possible in terms of giving screen to your kids. Instead of that you can listen audio books for kids. It is the big hit for me. We love to listen story on audio books at my home too.

No Activity:

A big NO for this. I will not encourage to do any activity in moving vehicle specially drawing, colouring or reading. That is not at all good for eyes. So avoid that. Let them be free. Do not dump any activity book with your travelling luggage.

First aid kit

Always have a small first aid kit with you. It should have all basics things. Keep medicine too in case required.

PS: VectorStock

These are my points according to my experience which I found most useful. Not being an Instagram mommies to fill every place with activities. I believe to give space for children to choose the way they want to be. Kids should learn themselves how to cope up with the surrounding. Every time our surroundings changed and we have to change with that. If we keep them pampered how will they going to learn to live there life? Agree?

Meanwhile if you love to travel then don't forget to check out my travel post.

Link in bio :

Which things you follow while traveling with your kids?

©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.

Year End Review of 2022

Happy new year 2023.

My yearly review is always restricted to my journal only. But this time I came across these prompts on pintrest and so jotted down. It is little bit differnt version of year end review and I loved it.

This is the best year in my life. Twin baby and my life and my family life has completely changed. Our priority, our health, our eating habit everything has changed. And we as a family enjoyed it very well.

What was like in the beginning?

2022 beginning was quite tough. With small twin baby, feeding, bathing, handling my elder one and the most important staying sane.

What worked well and what didn't?

In the early period of delivery, being c section I was obviously expected a help. Though I have a house help. But it didn't worked.

Trying and trying and goes with flows. It worked. With the help of my elder one I handled everything.

Able to concentrating on being creative on my Instagram page. Did everything which makes me happy. Reading, writing blog post, dancing with my elder one, drawing, creating reel and making some delicious foods too.

What was the most important conversation and connection?

The connection was with my family inside my home. With my babies, they understood more 😊my mature elder one, 🤗 and Mr. Hubby. The connection we developed was incredible.

Conversation with my blogger friends. Yep, I write 24 post in this year. Whhooo...! Patted on myself 😊

What was the best entertainment?

Screen time was so far I hooked on Netflix but able to saw only 2 webseries of K -drama. Arya, mismatched. Gilmore Girl and some kids movie on our movie date at home.

Our Family entertainment shows was Maharashtrachi Hasyajatra 😁 Where you forget your all stress and laugh from the bottom of your belly🤣

Who mattered?

My kid, Mr.Hubby , my one and only friend Anu, who was constantly with me and You. Greatful to have you as a reader and your comments gives me more boost to write more blog post.

What changed?

I become more emotionally confident. Improve myself more the way I expected.

Earlier I used to write only when I think it will be best post. And it will goes one post in two three month.

I joined Bloggers community and fellow blogger inspire me to write.

I wrote my first ever fiction story which was top blog post in the community.

But I will continue to write more about my experience. I think we all get inspired by each others experience.

Where did you find happiness and fulfillment?

Within my families. Able to feed, bath to my babies. Provide clean clothes, 3 meals 😇 to my family.

Happiness is spending time with my kiddos.

Spend time with my big family at family function. We had marriage and we thoroughly enjoyed.😁

What are your intentions for 2023?

Maintain boundaries within family, friends and outsiders.

Forget, forgive but don't allow them to enter your life again.

Choose the people who choose you.

Stay away from selfish friends and relatives.

Focus on myself, my inner growth and self development.

Read, read and read more offline and online too. And write more post on my blog mindfully.

Thank you for being here!

How was your 2022? Are you reviewing it?

11 Memories of year 2022 #BlogChatterBlogHop

I read this quote on Google and realized the value of my power.

2022 is the best year for me as it gives abundance - Love, and lessons.

When I started my blog I wanted to document yearly review but due to some boundaries unable to do that. I came across this blog hop by #blog chatter and my hands automatically goes to keyboard.

2020 was the bitter year. 2021 was the blessing of 2020 and so I had my twin pregnancy in late 38's and 2022 is with my twins. Yeaa, had my twins in my arms safe, and healthy.☺

This year 2022 was more stressful for us. You will get to know how Twin mother can survive on her own while in her postpartum and motherhood journey.

But there were lots of happy moments I captured in my mobiles and after revisiting them we forgot our stress. Having twin is blessing. Sharing personal memories with hope that some of you can relate with us. And you can change the perspective towrds life. This year is all about my baby and baby and baby.

Twin Pregnancy

When I was in college I always wanted to have a twin baby. I was curious how the lady can have two tiny species in a womb. How can they survive inside the womb? And how that lady deliver the babies ? And guess what ?

I experienced all this ☺

It is called "law of attraction " Universe always support you and you have to keep a faith.

So here are my 11 memories of 2022 :

1. January was the first month of 2022 where I survived independently with my twinnies. Unexpected things happened a lots and there was nobody to help me. Being c section with two tiny babies I was emotionally deprived and physically drained. But the ladies from my family had no heart. This bitter memory - that you do everything good for your family but such heartless people do exist, Specially woman😑 is always hurt. ( Does it happen with you?)

I survived and realized my power💪🏻.

2. Achieved success in handling both of them for feeding. Yes I had a lots of struggle to breastfeed them, but with constant trial and error I was able to breastfeed these tiny little delicate babies. Only difficulty was to burp them at the same time. Again I called this was due to the affirmations. I made positive affirmation during my twin pregnancy and one of them was to breastfeed my twins. I did almost tandem feeding.

I learned that Affirmations do work.

3. I am greatful to my cook. She is like a family and take care of me as my mother. Feed me on time with hot breakfast, lunch and dinner. Though we pay money to them but not everyone can take care of you as a family. And this time where we did not have real family, she was the savoir.🙏🏻

Good karma always pay you back.

4. In two and half month my babies turned on their tummy. Milestone of my babies like neck part, turning on one side, crawling, gaggling and many more - achieved so fast and quick. Intentionally control myself for not sharing any of these precious moments on social media.

Learned we can not document everything.

5. My caring Partner Mr. Hubby : I know my husband loves me a lot but second time realize that how much he was emotionally connected with me. My late twin delivery in 39's was challenging. And where no elderly people with us he was constantly with me. Keep me happy and motivated every time.

Greatful to God for such wonderful Partner.

6. My matured elder one who were witnessed of everything. But glad that she took only happy part of being a big sister. This one was the bitter memory where she was with us in every up and down phase of life. She learned a lots of about family peoples and relations.

I learned from her how to choose joy because life is always difficult.

7. Able to celebrate diwali with my twins. Able to drew rangoli, had deep cleaning of my house and got ready with my 3 girls and hubby with our traditional way.

Able to stick with tradition, rituals and transfer it to the next generation.

8. First time I had a babysitter/nanny inspite of having granny. Becasue she was not interested to have grandchildren specially girl child. And, it is okay, for us.

Blessed to have loving nanny who take care of me and my babies like a family person.

It is okay to trust outsiders. They can be your big support.

9. Back to my cooking. I am greatful that I was able to cook and gave lunch box to my hubby. He had been eating out for more than 1 and half year. It was not easy to get up early in the morning with sleepless nights but tried and Successful.

Everything is possible with little bit of push.

10. Happy to spend time with my elder one. She cried many times due to non availability of mummy with her.😑 And after lots of struggle I was finally able to succeed. Not 100 percent but I figured out to have date with my elder daughter. After all she had been my best friend over this 8 years. 🙂

Had errands, movie date, cook date with her. Looking forward with many fun things.

It is important to have one on one time with your each child.

11. Last but not the list - My Blog.

Able to get back on my blog. Success knock on the door with hardwork. My dream come true to become a successful mom blogger. This was the first step of my success and many more to come.

Dedication and hard work pay back to you.

With love of my hubby and daughters we struggled a lot and have a happy, yes we can say "HAPPY " 2022.

Because we learned :

💜 To accept the people the way they are.

💜 It is okay.

💜 Time is temporary and it will fade away.

💜 We nurture our babies without any guilt.

💜 To enjoy each phase of life though it is tough or smooth.

We had babies after so many trial and error and in a natural way. And that is the main reason of our "HAPPINESS"

Finally I have my big Family.😎

Dec 11 is the birthday of my twins ❤ We have crossed the difficult journey -"TWINMOTHERHOOD" Yeaaaa! We made it. 🙌🏻🤘Saee and Mr. Hubby😘

How was your 2022? Share your special memory in comment section.

This post is a part of Blogchatter Blog Hop.

You may like to read BlogchatterBlogHop post :

When my alarm didnt ring this morning

The door bell

The Mom Uniforms

A happy Mom means a Happy Home and a Happy Family.

Happiness of a mom is depend on lots of things. Let's do not discuss that because that is other subject. Every one have different aspect and so happiness too. But our happiness is totally depends on us irrespective of the situations. Sometimes putting ourselves together makes most of us happy. Remember how much we are happy when we dressed up for any functions!

So a little bit change of the situations. Instead of a function you are at your home, sweet home and to make this home heaven you have to be happy. Do you agree?

Mom uniforms - Does it bring any picture in your mind?

PS : istock

When we saw a well dressed mom on social media we feel, wow! Yaar, how can she stay so stylish?

And then we see ourselves in mirror and pity on ourselves. 😶

Why is that so?

Though she had helper or may be she is doing for social media. Do we need to get influence by her?

Yes, not for comparison but for well being of ourselves. Don't you think that? Shouldn't we ditch that pyjama or nighty? Don't you think we need to step out from our comfort zone?

If your answers are YES, to all above question then you are at right place.

A new mom or any mom when they are at home they used to be in nighty mostly. Are you one of them? If not then I am glad. Because I believe we homemaker also need to dress up nicely inside the home too.

Why that is needed?

Well, this is my opinion, hope you can relate to it.

# When we are dressed up neatly we feel fresh, positive and energetic for the whole day. If I do not change my nighty I feel sick for whole day.

# When you wear comfortable clothes and well dressed our children see the happy mom and the happy positive vibes automatically pass on them.

# I feel happy and so there is less chance of irritation 😐 and so no more temper out on children.

# When your child find you neat and happy they tend to be like you. They keep themselves well dressed. This is my experience because children imitate us.

#Well dressed means for me the clothes must be comfortable and fashionable which is according to your choice. Some like to wear frock, some like to wear skirt and top, some trousers, some leggin, some shorts and some like to wear even sari too😍.

So make sure you look good for yourself. Only dressing properly will change the whole personality. There is no need to have a full make up and hairstyle but yes surely be elegant and can be ready at any time to leave the home. 😊

Exception when you are a new mom or sick you have to be in nighty or which makes you comfortable. First 1 and half month I was in loose nighty but afterwards I changed my wardrobe. I picked up only 5 clothes to wear at home (minimalism 😇) and wear it by styling differently. So

Basically what do you need ?

A set of loose cotton t shirt - ( for feeding )

A set of bottoms leggings, track pants, plazzo, patiala, jeans, straight pants ( anything as per your choice )

A pair of night suits

A set of tops

Shorts /skirts

Kurti long /short

Frocks/ one piece

That's it!

Choices are yours. Make sure your clothes should be comfy and makes you happy🙂.

Sharing some of my mom uniforms 😀yes, I called them Mom uniforms because they are rescue for everyday life. These are according to my comfort and budget too. Might be many of you have the same.

Night suit but bottom can be used with tops or t-shirts.

Most of us think we have to cook, clean up and handling kids, then why the hell to wear a nice clothes when they are going to be dirty. I am a mom of twin babies and one 9 year old. I am used to do lots of things single handly without any help. But dressing yourself really make a lot of change. It change your mental state and makes you happy.

Every woman /mom likes to look stylish and classy right ,

1. So change your wardrobe according to the season of your life and actual season.

2. Be minimalist because you have to handle clothing of a whole family which might be overwhelmed😇😐.

3. Keep only those clothes which you really like to wear.

4. Make sure to have elegant hair cut which you tie quickly. I mostly stay in bun because my kiddo keep on pulling my hair😑

5. Have a basic make up : Moisture must must and the bindi if you like to have.

Thats it. You are rocking mom!

Disclaimer : I am not stylish by profession. I am minimalism mom and a happy (mostly) mom. Sharing my experience which might helpful to many of you.

Feel free to share your go to mom uniforms.

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

My diaper experience

Many times I have been told do not use diapers it is not good, Meanwhile me, yes ! I know it.

But with twins there is no other way. Everything you have to do double. You have one potty but I have two at a single time. And in a day it might be 12 times😁 so what do you think ?

Diapers specially disposable makes mommy's life little bit easier. Can have some kind of mental peace and for me physical too😇 where you do not want to clean the panties or clothes multiple times. And the floor mess is another headache. So I always prefer a rule :

"Eikave janache karave manache " - (means ) - Listen everyone, but prefer to do what your heart say!

There are some mommies who also ask me several questions on diaper. I am using diapers for my babies from 9 months. Fact I did not use diapers for my first daughters😊. So, here I am sharing my diaper experience. You may get the answer for your queries. So let's start the post.

Q. Disposable diapers are good for baby ?

Ans: No. Disposable diapers are not good for babies. They contain chemical which is harmful to baby's delicate skin.

But, if you use it cautiously it will not going to harm.

Q. Can we use diapers for new born?

Ans : Yes, Doctors advise to use diapers. ( in hospital stay only).

Q. How to choose disposable diaper?

A: Disposable diapers came with every size on the basis of baby weight. Choose the diaper according to your baby weight. It will fit exactly. Always remember diaper should not be too tight nor be too loose.

Q. Is there different type of diaper for girls and boys?

A : Nowdays we get unisex diaper. Choose these so that anyone boy baby or girl baby can wear it.

I am using the above one. These are best diapers for my babies.

Q. How to wear diaper to baby?

A : On every diapers there are written instructions with pictures. You can check the front side and back side - written on the diaper. Use that pictorial information and wear it.

Put your baby on dry sheet so that potty or urine will not make bedsheets dirty. Pick the leg slightly up and insert diaper as you wear a panty.

Q. What kind of precautions should we take while using a diapers?

A : Put the diaper on clean and dry area.

Put coconut oil or Vaseline before every new diaper. Keep your baby diaper free almost for the hour. That area should also get air and sunlight.

Q. How much time we should keep the baby in diapers?

A : As much as possible keep your baby diaper free. Use diapers which can absorb 12 hours. Put that kind of diaper at night time only. In a day time try to change it frequently. There is one line on diaper which indicate the sign of diaper change. Always check that.

Kid approved Indian weekly breakfast

Life keeps on changing. Season come and goes quickly. Ones you start enjoy every season of life you will be the happiest version of yourself. And you will surprised to see how you evolved through the time.

I remember how calm my life was before my twinee. Me and my daughter used to hang out most of the time. We laughed a lot, roam here and there, enjoyed our scooty drive to school, errands and had dance session together.😊

Beautiful memories !

New season of my life begin with twins. We do laugh together a lot with them. Play a lot and dance a lot! Only difference is we dance when my babies get frustrated or we need to do some body workout. Moving my body is the need of my present time. And I do try to spend most time with my elder one. (That is the most difficult task -currently😓)
In all these we are missing our meal. After almost 9 months I am able to back on my home shef costume. The most favourite part is I am going to feed my family again with variety of food. It is still difficult for me to cook elaborate breakfast but I am trying out my best. My daughter is a foodie and breakfast is the first meal of the day. I want to make sure that before going to school she have her meal. Am I missing to say, yes, she is having lots of natak😇 too. (Picky eater) We moms do know very well how to feed them, right Mommies !!

So without a further ado let's jump to the post.

Our weekly kid approved Indian breakfast. :

Funny part that our moms never take our approval while making a meal😁 for us. We have to ate whatever she gave us. Do you feel we pampers our kids? Comment below.

From my point of view, sometimes yes, I do pampering. But sometimes only, because it took lots of effort to make our kid eat. 😓

I do not prepare anything special but yes I make her understand the importance of the breakfast and make her eat. My funda is kid learns when they see 😎 so we both eat together always. My babies love to eat with us and I always give them whatever we eat. Yes, they do enjoy our food rather than baby food😉.

This week we have yummy breakfast. Monday is the difficult day for me. I make sure to keep the Monday breakfast simple and her favorite. So that we can have peaceful Monday morning and then whole week goes smooth.😉

All breakfast can be ready in 15 minutes with little bit of meal planning.

Monday : Paneer Paratha :

A simple breakfast which can made in 15 minutes, only if you have little bit pre-preparation. Knead a dough one day before.

How to prepare it?

Take paneer from the fridge and grate it. Add finely chopped onion and lots of coriander and kasuri methi with some spices ( haldi, cumin powder, coriander powder, red chilli powder, and salt ). Squeeze half lemon to the mixture and mix it very well. Your stuffing is ready. Make the paneer paratha using this stuffing and roast on hot tawa using lots of butter. Yummy paneer paratha is ready. Serve it with pickle, ketch up or curd.

Tuesday : Rava Upma

Pre-preparation : I always dry roast semolina and put it in a air tight container in the freezer. Yes I store it in a freezer so that it will not have any worms.

Everyone knows the upma recipee. I try to do with variation : sometimes plain, sometime with carrot and peas, sometimes add haldi and tomato. if you want to feed your child granish upma with fried peanuts, bhujiya and tomato ketch up. Kids will finish quickly.

Wednesday : Omlete Paratha

It is simple everyday breakfast. Whenever there is nothing to make just make the omlete. My daughter love to have plain without onion and spices but I add coarinder to her omelet. I used to keep dough ready at least for 2 days in the fridge. Just take out dough, roll plain paratha and roast it with ghee. Roll the omelette in paratha. Sometimes I apply mayo and ketch up to the paratha and then put omlete and roll it tightly. Yummy for kids😋. This is one of the kids tiffin items too.

Thursday : Puri bhaji

Pre-preparation : Keep boiled potato in fridge and dough is ready.

I made Maharaahtrian style potato bhaji.

How to prepare?

Heat the oil and add crushed garlic with chopped green chillies followed by curry leaves, haldi and coarinder. Add potato and fry at least for 5 second, mix it well. Cover for 5 minutes on low flame, add up grated coconut and cover for 5 seconds. It is ready in 10 minutes. Fry some puri. It is one of the best kids tiffin options too.

Friday : Sabudana Khichadi

Pre preparation : Soak sabudana at night.

Roast peanut on tawa and grind it in mixer to make the crushed powder. Make sure not to make smooth powder. There should be crunch. It is our family favorite.

How to prepare ?

Heat the oil and add up jeera, green chillies and curry leaves. Fry till it change chillies color. Then add sabudana and peanuts mixture with salt and lemon. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves. And serve with cold curd. Yummy !

And finally we reach towards the end of week. Weekend are lazy and we do have special breakfast. Sometimes order from the local vendors and sometimes I made. It is totally depends on our twin babies schedule. 😑

What is your favorite breakfast? Do you have this kind of routine? Share your yummy breakfast items.

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

Saee turns 9

Publishing this post in September, quite a late because this birthday was low and so I was not ready to post anything from my side. Her dad already posted a letter for her. Check it here. Then I realize it is memory flies and how could I deny to post such a beautiful memory. So here I am...

Memory Flies