Rakshabandhan : Anecdote

 

It has a special place in my heart. It is my favourite festival especially after my marriage. My Aai and my sister came two days before for this festival at my father's house and we had a blast. 

With an endless night session including in deciding of breakfast, lunch and dinner. Aai always brings sweets of our choices specially Pappas favourite and we all gobble it very fast.

How do we celebrate ?

Sometimes we draw mehandi. Get up early in the morning with Pappas voice. He wakes up early and starts to wake up us early too. With his endless talk, ( kadhi uthnar, kadhi angholi karnar, lavakar utha ...n ..bla...bla..bla) 

Means he insisted on getting up early and having a bath and getting ready for the day. Whereas we all were lazy and got up one by one up to 11: 30 - ready for the day. 

Then we ate a tasty breakfast made by my Aai and began our celebration. We never saw muhurt for this because my father never believed in all this stuff. 

He gets ready first always and we saw Bhai bahan ka pyaar. She is older than him and he still bends down to touch her feet. He never sat without a handkerchief on his head. He loves to have sweets which she bought. Malai Barfi was his favourite.

Then we all siblings followed the rituals. Photosession is always there. We spend at least 1 hour in photos especially family pics. When there was no social media we tend to eat sweets as much as possible and then have a special lunch. 

My father always flows with time. He learnt social media too. He learnt how to take a selfie. 

Father's feelings for the festival: 

Rakshabandhan start with Pappa first. He was always waiting for this festival. Though he didn't speak too much with his sister, he loved her sister very much. She always bought shirt pieces and he always wears the same for next rakshabandhan. 

(With hope next generation also follow the emotional bond.)

We have been watching them since my childhood and we learned a lot. We siblings had a fight and some tough moments too. But both my pappa and my Aatya taught us how to have an emotional bond with each other.

Today my father is no more. While writing this post my eyes are filled with tears. I missed him so much. First time in life I realised we are no more without our father. He was always there for us. He taught values, respect and most importantly how to love each other in spite of having differences of opinion. 

Because

That is our family. Mummy, pappa and we 4 siblings including our base, pillar my Aatya and Tai. I wished her to have a long life and a healthy life. 

It's been 3 months. But still I feel he is with us. Watching us and showering his blessings. 

Today post is dedicated to my father and Aai. We missed you pappa. 

©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.

BLW : Palak Chilla 8 Months +

Baby Lead Weaning with traditional and trusted food.

BLW  - It is a tough process but it teaches you lots of things 😁. Patience, calm and  motivation Right Mommies?  Who have gone through this phase ? 

They know it is tedious and hectic but we are in nurturing baby . Still every mom is highly motivated to do this task. 

What is BLW?

Baby Lead Weaning actually it is baby lead feeding. The stage where you have to start solid food to your baby.

With use of social media you get stimulated highly amount of information. But I trust mostly on our traditional food. I always consider to ask my mom or my bua what to feed and whether to feed it or not. Though everything available on our fingers tips.

And second thing is our mommy- gut feeling. Try our variation because you have to feed multiple times of the day to this tiny human. So do not get demotivated and go blindly our trusted traditional food for babies. 

How do you prepare food for babies?

When you are in a nuclear family where you are alone to cook meals and feed your family be smart and prepare two in one meal. So that you don't need to waste too much time in making meals and cleaning utensils. You know the more food preparation the more utensils need to wash. So do smart work. 

I am sharing easy BLW recipes and at the same time we adults can have too. You may know it  but trying it for baby is new for many moms. Because when I  served my babies I got the first question do they have teeth ? 

Baby don't need teeth to chew food. They can eat anything you give. Just make sure it should be soft and in small thin pieces.

Chilla / Pancake we usually have for breakfast. It is protein packed and for me easy peasy can be prepared in 10 minutes.

I am sharing baby friendly chilla / pancake recipes. First you make it for the baby and then add spices accordingly for the adults portion. 😉 smart work. Always sit as a family to eat the same food. 

Let's check out the recipe:

Palak Chilla ( 8 months + )

Ingredients :

1 cup besan

1/4 cup palak puree

1/2 small onion finely chopped ( optional)

Salt as per taste (skip if baby is below 12 months)

Black pepper powder 1/8 tsp

Jeera powder: 1/8 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp

Carom Seeds / Ajwain: pinch 

Water to make a slurry as per requirement

Direction:

- To begin , mix all ingredients in besan. 

- Add slowly water and make lumpsfree slurry.

- Heat a skillet and apply some ghee.

- Pour 1 spoon of batter and spread a little bit.

- Make a small size pancake and drizzle a little bit of ghee from the side.

-  wait for some time until the chilla start to leave the edges from bottom. 

- Then flip it and toast until it becomes crispy.

- For baby keep it moist and soft. 

Besan palak Chilla is ready. Serve it with homemade curd.

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Nutrition Value : 

Palak aka spinach provide vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin K which improves immunity and iron level too in your baby body.

Besan aka chickpea flour protein packed and easy to digest. Don't forget to add ajwain for good digestion. It improves immunity. Beneficial with cold and cough. 

Some points to be remember while preparing this dish 

- You may add or omit any masala. Keep your measurements according to your preference.

- You can make it thin like a dosa or can make it thick like a pancake. It depends on your baby likes. 

- If you are serving it for the first time then make it thick and try to keep it soft. So that baby can easily chew it.

- If your baby is 12 months + then make it as per the babies preference. You know very well babies taste and preference keeps on changing.

Questions for the day :

What do you prefer to feed your babies pancake or traditional chilla? 

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Follow MemoryFlies on Instagram 

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

©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.

Saee turns 10

It is 10 years ! Double digit ! Mr. Hubby and I still can't believe our tiny first baby grew up as a girl. She came into our life on this day and made us parents. Incredible 😊

I remember the day when I requested the Doctor to wait for 15 August. But the due date is already over and it was the 9th day,  so the doctor didn't want to take any risk and  she came ...with natural delivery 😊 It was the most beautiful and emotional experience for us. 

1 year old 

2 year old

3 year old

4 years old

5 years old

6 year old

7 years old

8 years old

9 years old

10 year old 

These memories bring tears to our eyes. Specially Mr. Hubby is attached more to her.  He wrote a letter on her 10 th birthday keeping the tradition to maintain Dad's corner on MemoryFlies.

She was very excited as usual but this time she didn't count her birthday month from January. Hmmm... I guess this is a sign of a growing girl. 

So the birthday girl demands a birthday party only with her friends and does not want to do anything like a small baby birthday kind. Means she doesn't want that birthday cap, birthday banner, candles and doesn't want to wear frill frocks. 

And we nodded 😊

She wanted to be simple and to mingle with friends. So the birthday party was small at home. 

Pappa took off from the office. She didn't sleep till 11:15 on 13 August but I insisted on sleeping so she could have a good sleep because she wanted to go to school. In the morning we hugged the birthday girl and wished by singing a song. My twins were looking at us and then their sister.

I made her all her favourite meals. Breakfast was Paratha, juice, tiffin box was potato cheese sandwich and dinner was paneer burji gravy with Paratha. Everything was YUM! According to her 😉 Happy Me!

Then she gets ready for school. The first time she distributed chocolates in her school. She loved it when the whole class wished her. Every time there is a long list of guests and so I was unable to send her school. This year there were no grown up so she actually enjoyed her birthday with her friends. Kids love to be with their age group. 

I guess birthday parties should be for only kids. What do you think?

The menu was simple. Butterscotch flavour cake, as she wants to try something else apart from chocolate cake. Lots of chips, her favourite small kachori and cold drink MAZA with chocolate along with cornflakes chivda. It is fulfilling and followed by dinner. I cooked her favourite dish at home - paneer burji gravy with butter paratha.

The birthday party ended with a game. They played by themselves and we didn't interfere with kids. My twins enjoyed it too with so much loud voice. 

So the favourite part of the post. Celebration was at a low level but this is the first birthday where I saw her so so happy. The way she wanted to be.

Emotional : 

She is getting more emotional nowadays. If something happened tears automatically flowing from her eyes. 

Physical  : 

Get tired very fast. She is more into outdoor games. She had lots of walks and running.

Favourite food : 

Still her favourite is Paneer,  homemade chicken and mutton, butter chicken, chicken kabab, parathas, etc She loves to have all seasonal fruits. Yep, she is a foodie and so the list will be long.

Siblings Love: 

she is very sensitive about siblings. Handle them very well. Morning starts with hugs and plays.

Favourite activity : 

Greeting card making, love to do painting by watching youtube. 

Favourite show : 

Aau piyu show, wonderland family sometimes, love to watch art channels. Barbie , miss Rachel, cocomelon are still her favourite.

Favourite movie : Still not into it. 

Favourite books :  Geronimo Stilton series. 

She is not a morning person and loves to sleep. She loves to organise her books, study table and her wardrobes. According to her she managed it well but I have to do some sort of checking in between... You know mommy- things 

She loves to study history and EVS.  Her favourite subject was studying Shivaji Maharaj. She still didn't like Maths. 

Recently we changed her board from STATE to CBSE . So there is a huge change in school, studies, friends circle and everything. Yes, I know she is going away slowly because of her school, play time and studies. 

Dad's corner : 

A letter from dad on her 9 th birthday. 

A letter from dad on her 7 th birthday

And we as parents are still adjusting to these tiny things. 

My favourite time : We talked for at least 10 minutes at bed time. Where she shares everything about her whole day. I love to keep this tradition. Let's see. 

Saee turns 9 

Saee turns 8 

Saee turns 3

I am grateful to God for giving such a sweet daughter. We as parents do not have any expectations. Rather we are accepting the way she developed as a human being. Our attempt to make her a good human being. 

Happy Birthday my little doll. Stay blessed and stay happy always my love 💕.

©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.

अरे यार 10 वर्षाची झाली मी !

अरे यार 10 वर्षाची झाली मी …

अंग झालीस पण 10 वर्षाची बापरे!  तुला बघता कधी मोठी झालीस समजलेच नाही ग ! मोठी झालीस हे बोलण्यामागे खूप जबाबदारी आणि एक वेगळीच गम्मत आहे बरं का ...!

जेव्हा मला तुझ्या मम्मी ने सांगितले कि सई ला पेरिएडस (पाळी ) आलीय तेव्हा काय सांगू तुला जणू ह्या जगातला सगळ्यात जास्त खुश मी असेन कारण तुझ्या जन्मापासून फक्त मी आणि तुझी मम्मीच होते ना सोबत .. त्यामुळे एवढीशी तू ..आणि आज तू एवढी मोठी झालीस ..हा प्रवास आठवूनच डोळ्यात पाणी आले अर्थात आनंदाचे ..! तुला माहितीच आहे कि त्या दिवशी घरी येऊन मी काय केले .. ते फक्त माझ्या लाडक्या गुड्डू साठी ...!

पण तू ते  खूप लवकर आत्मसात केलेस ..रडली नाहीस उलट मी तुला मिठी मारून रडत होतो तेव्हा तू मला शांत केलेस .शेवटी पप्पा  आहे ना ग तुझा मी अश्या प्रसंगी रडायला येणारच ना ...!

दुसरे सांगायचं म्हणजे तू नशीबवान म्हणजे तुला जुळ्या बहिणी मिळाल्या .. आता तुमची मोठी गट्टी होणार ना..! पण एक लक्षात ठेव गुड्डू तू तुझ्या बहिणीची दुसरी मम्मी आहेस कारण तुला जेवढे छान शिकवता येईल तेवढे शिकव , मस्त बॉण्डिंग ठेवा तिघी .. मज्जा करा .. बाकी पप्पा मम्मी आहेतच ना सोबत .

आता तू मुंबई मध्ये परत आली आहेस , तुला नवीन मित्र मैत्रिणी भेटणार तुझे खरे नवीन आयुष्य सुरु होणार . शाळेत नवीन अभ्यास , नवीन शिक्षक सगळे कसे नवनवीन .. मज्जा आहे बुवा तुझी .. 

पण आता तुझी खरी परीक्षा आहे कारण सगळे लाइफ changing आहे .. खूप अभ्यास कर , छान माणूस म्हणून तयार हो आणि ते तू होशीलाच ...!

गुड्डू तुला तुझ्या 10 व्या वाढदिवसाच्या खूप शुभेच्छा .. खूप मोठी हो , खूप यश मिळो तुला .. आणि शेवटी अरे यार .. बोलायला विसरू नकोस ....

तुझा पप्पा ....

©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.

9 Ways To Have Easy and Calm Shifting With Toddlers

 

I truly believe home is where the heart is. We can relax and rejuvenate ourselves in a home. So I am trying to keep high vibration. 

Home shifting is always difficult no matter if your family members are big, old or young. It is hectic and irritating. We have to pack our whole house and then unpack the same. Some people are very quick while some tend to reduce materialistic thing as much as possible and some are like me , 😄 taking EASY one step at a time, then no matter how many days it will take. 

A house you can get easily, shifting can be done but making that house in a home is the art of every homemaker. Isn't it ?

As soon as we announce that we are shifting to a new city, everyone is curious and constantly asking how will you manage with your twin toddler? And so Mr. Hubby was getting tense too. I patted on his shoulder and said, ho jayega. 

Though we are using packers service still we have to do lots of TO DO.  Because my funda is to go slowly and choose the easy way to achieve the goal. 

The most important TO DO: 👇

Pay your electricity bill. Take pics of your light reading. It will save you from hassle.

Pay your milk bill, paper bill and internet bill. 

Make payment of your maids if you have on time. 

The most important clean your house after packing everything.

Make sure to clean bathroom and washroom and washbasin. Do not keep it dirty.

What was that easy way to have calm shifting? So that you can have peaceful morning on next day of shifting 😉

1. Always pack at least 10 days clothes including your undergarments in your bag pack. Or else pack your family's 8 days minimum clothes in one bag. Make sure packers should not pack this bag in any box. 

This way you have clean clothes for at least a week. Until you unpack your boxes.

2. Pack separately your bedsheet, blankets and towels in another backpack. Clean towels and bedsheets are mandatory for me. Because we wants to sleep on clean beds. It should be in cartoon which is easier to found. Label it as bedsheets and quilts.

3. Keep basic toiletries in handbags like toothpaste, toothbrush, facewash, body wash, small pouches of surf Excel, moisturizer and small deodorant. 

4. The most important things are gas lighter, rolling pin, tawa, chimta, knives, and a bunch of spoons, 2,3 glass and cups. Pack it separately.

5. The rest of the utensils should be packed in a box with a label. So that you can have  a basic dinner set will save your time. Don't forget to pack masala dabbas and dal in this same box. 

6. Now comes electronic items. All your remotes, like TV remote, speaker remote, AC remote should pack in one place. Don t forget to pack chargers of all cell phones, tabs and laptops in one place. It should be properly labelled. 

7. If you have a baby or toddler, pack clothes, water bottles or sippy cups, diapers and medicine at one place. It should be with you.

8. Don't forget to pack your important documents, jewellery if you have anything at home and cash in your bag pack. 

Keep your letters handy for smooth entry in your new location.

9. Ask help :

Yes, this is most important. Ask your friends and family to arrange meals for at least two days. specially if you have a small baby, kids or old age parents. Don't get into formalities. Ask upfront your real friends will be happy to help you.

This is my 4th shifting and so I am very well experienced about what to pack and how to pack.😄  Every time I learnt new things and it is really making a good impact on my mind. To be calm and taking it EASY.

Unpacking will be done as per my schedule and whenever I have time at least 2,3 hours so that I can arrange one spot like wardrobes or kitchen or living room. Yes, I am not in  a hurry to unpack Everything and get arranged in a two days. Then you will fall sick and I don't want that. Better way I keep all boxes at one place and unpack easily and slowly. 

What are your tips you want to share about shifting?

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

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

  ©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.

 

Life Lately July

 Hi, there,

I hope you all are fine. We all are still juggling. 

It is the last week of July 2023 and we are in our baby steps. On 1st July we enter in this new house and mentally prepared for new home and new challenge on a positive note.😃 There is no such thing --- no, but gradually I am learning to take every step slowly with positive mindset. It doesn't mean you have to be happy. I am trying to minimise my irritation and negativity. It is really difficult where you have to unpack your whole house, the elder ones new school, study, exam, twin toddlers and Mr. Hubby. Hussshhh.... !

We decided to go as slowly as possible. It is one of the phases which will fade away not very soon but yes, it will. I love to arrange a home but with twin toddlers it is quite tough. Then I thought these were the precious memories of my twins. They will be growing up here ! That's why I am updating my life Lately on my blog. MemoryFlies 😊

We shifted to a new house, a new city, new surroundings and new people. This is our 4th shift and I think it will be the last and best. Yep, with the best mindset life will be best. What do you think?

The things we learn about people and neighbours. No matter wherever you go, wherever you stay in a high standard locality or middle class or lower middle class, you will get the same ( worse ) kind of people. Only 30% can be kind and helpful.

So the lesson learnt is not to have any expectations with anyone. No need to be kind to unkind people. Just to have causal meetings and try to avoid as much as you can except social gatherings.

Life Lately is having twin toddlers who are in the climbing stage and constantly putting fingers in electric holes. Have to arrange furniture accordingly so that they will be safe. 

Currently my TV wall unit looks like this. Not yet properly arranged but will get soon.

The kitchen is a disaster right now. Arranged basic utility so that I am able to cook three meals.

This is my pantry, I always wanted to have a pantry in my kitchen and so finally got it. I hope I will organise as soon as possible. 

Basically this is a non modular kitchen which is small but I love it because it is more functional and keeps me in my minimalistic nature. 

Yes! I am Grateful:

Grateful to have a roof, food and water.

Grateful to have a pollution free atmosphere.

Grateful to have peaceful surroundings.

Grateful to have accessibility to each tiny thing. 

Currently reading :

To my toddlers only, 😊

These are favourite ones.

Helping my elder one because this time her board has changed and so it is new for her and for me too.

Currently Watching

I love to binge on Netflix but unable to watch as I did not get any ME time. Still I am watching YouTube videos to get more inspiration to carry on homemaking. 

My favourites are : 

Old World Home

I love to watch English one because they do not have any drama on their channels. 

I watched her for the last 8 years and still she is my favourite. Inspired me a lot to be healthy and happy. Which one is your favourite? Comment below.

Currently Favourite Food: 

Nothing right now. But yes I am into feeding my family healthy food as much as possible. So currently my favourite foods are Ragi, Carrot and beet.

I am adding these to every food item. And trying to make new dishes.

Currently mood : 

Tired, and want to go out on a walk for at least 30 minutes. 

But unable.... 

Instead trying to move my body on zumba move😃 once in a week at least for 15 min. 😂

Currently I love to talk with my daughter. We got the time to chat at night only when we are on our bed and constantly talking with each other. She love this time and me too. Sometimes I have to tell her go to sleep because she is not a morning person. And I also allow her to have a complete sleep.

My life Lately is quiet challenging. Because there are still boxes to unpack, the wardrobes are waiting to be wiped down, unpacking of clothes, still the drillings are pending, still kitchen need to streamlined.... And blaa....blaaa....blaaa...

One of most precious thing is my three daughters are happy and able to cope up with this new shift. New change in everyday routine, seasonal change and off course the sleeping room change.

Questions of the day

How do you tackle the shifting? Does it drives you madly or you taking it slowly?

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

©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.

Summer dates with Dad

Hello June 2023,

Daddy love her daughter so much and always excited to take her out. I called it Date with Dad and both love it too 😊The bonding between dad and daughter is always special and I want to save this memory on my blog as these are the special moments for us as a parents. 

We are in half of the year 2023. Is it going so fast for me or  you guys feel the same speed?  school will start and so our mom duties (dauda dauda bhaga bhaga sa) 😭😡😊

How was your summer holiday?Our was filled with fun and a little bit of stress. But I will share some happiness. 

A summer date with dad - As the title of my blog post. Why I called  a date because daddy is her favourite than a mom and she loves to travel with him. Dad get very less time but we are happy to have as much as dad can. This summer holiday we want to make it special for her because the last two year was stressful for us. Arrival of twins siblings made her happy but more responsible too (Mommy guilt is here) but I guess this is the time where she is learning what is family love.  

Daddy loves to go with the family. I am afraid to travel with a twin baby due to numerous reasons. On the last day of her school her dad asked her to make a bucket list of the places where she wants to go. It should be a one day outing only. And so she made it. Dad has only weekends and so it was packed with daddy -daughter date.😃😊 

I am so happy to see her happy. She convinced me to be with her but I denied. Cruel mum 😭 . I wanted to go out with her. But I don't want to mess her day out with dad. At least she can fully enjoy. 

So what was her bucket list? 

Sharing some major glimpses of summer date with dad. We stayed in Mumbai and she is 9 years old now. We didn't take her out because she was so small to explore Mumbai train travel. She had been to many places like Andman, Kashmir and Kerla too. When we decided to take her to the Mumbai darshan lock down started. 😑 Now we are ready (we thought ) she is ready to travel.

Summer holiday starts from the second week of April. She had to rest, sleep, screen and play for hours with friends in the first two weeks. Then our bucket list was ready and most importantly dad also got free for her daughter.

The first weekend was Gate way of India. 

Dad prepared her like, how to reach over there? 

How to take a ticket from the railway station? 

How many stations have to cross ? 

And mentally prepared her for the RUSH of the local train.

She read it in her GK book and then watched it on YouTube too. When she actually travelled with her dad, she realised how far it is and how crowded it. She loved it though it was crowded and dirty. (True!)  Not able to had a fairy round due to the crowd but she enjoyed her first date with her dad. Had ice cream only as she was too tired to eat anything. Reached home and slept.

Another weekend of the summer holiday was Nehru planetarium. Both were very excited. The first time she traveled with the A.C. local train and got frozen. 

She insisted on having a denim jacket but I was denied due to the heat. Poor my daughter,😑 but she managed. I think these are things where our children should learn how to cope up with unfavorable situations on their own, right? What do you think?

Outside look of the place

On planet

I still have not checked this place. But both of them enjoyed it.

Some To Dos if you haven't checked out: 

# You have to pre Book tickets.

# Shows are in 3 languages, Marathi, English and Hindi. You can choose as per your comfort.

# There is cafeteria so you can have snacks.  

# There are many things which we learnt about our planet in a very short time. 

Next weekend date : Pool Party. 

She had a school picnic where she was unable to enjoy because  it was in winter, and there was no pick and drop facility available. Yes, she missed many things due to our twins schedule (feel sorry for her) but we promised her to have lots of celebrations during her summer holidays. And here we are keeping our promise! 

The pool party was at the farmhouse. I don't like crowded pools and I prefer to have two families only. We had the clean and non messy pool party. Music was in moderation and with twins we  enjoyed.  

Food was awesome like home cooked. It was baby friendly too. The lawn was clean, the trees shades and whole farm was beautiful.  This date was with family and we enjoyed it fully.

And rest of summer holiday at nannis house with her cousins.  Meanwhile we enjoyed movie dates at home with bucket of homemade.popcorn and mangoes.

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

How was your Summer holiday? 

©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.