19 June, 2017

Your recent inspiration - Monday Chit chat at Break Period

After the weekend, at Break Period there is a usual sigh of relief about meeting again and about getting sometime without the kids at home. I had an exhausting Monday with a few meetings in schools and I couldn't really wait for today's chit chat. We have a bunch of new mommies among us and we couldn't stop yapping.


I was dying to share with the group about a recent event that had inspired me so much. I had recently heard about a friend who had given birth to her second daughter at a birth village in Kerala wherein you do not do scans, vaccines or anything hospitaly. Instead, you had an assisting midwife who helps you deliver your baby naturally without any scientific interference. I found this an extremely gutsy story and came across this picture of the baby with the placenta and umbilical cord intact. Very few pictures have been emotionally, spiritually or mentally awakening to me. To me, the mental image of seeing my parents whenever they picked me up from boarding school keeps running on loop because that image never leaves you. Another recent picture that I came across was the picture where Jacqueline Kennedy and Caroline Kennedy kneel and bow their heads on JFK's coffin. I haven't been able to get that image out of my head ever since. This one with the baby attached to her placenta was another. I was shaken by the raw human truth behind it. What a wonderful message and what a wonderful way of being the example!

The group had so many things to share and a few mommies ended up reading it online right there. That's when I realised that I was sitting among a bunch of women who were all about uplifting each other and appreciating the emotion behind this! I had also noticed that ever since this story had made the rounds, the power I see in women who talked to me about it was radiating!





Get to know more about this amazing lady at www.durgeshnandhini.com











17 June, 2017

What's in your bag? What's in your car?

To remain inpsired and to keep the writing going, I've taken up 30 topics to write about - one everyday for a month. Apparently doing something the same way for 21 days makes it a part of your daily routine, so let's give it a go.

Writers block is my best friend so these topics do come in handy. I did pick out the best few that made sense and remained informative. Mommies who juggle part time work, maintain a home, cook, clean, iron and chauffer your little ones around - hi five! Give us something more, and we will do it just as well. Well, today I chose to write about two topics - What's in your bag and car?

Juggling a life like this may seem like a lot of things to carry around, but recently when I moved out of my in laws home to an apartment, I discovered the Konmari method of decluttering. This method has been a blessing. I've gotten rid of so much stuff which has helped mentally as well. I didn't stick to the method too much - but whatever worked for me I chose to go with it.

What's in my bag?!
Well, I carry the Longchamp tote with a small handle. Its one of those totes that folds back into a small wallet sized thing during storage. For those who have been struggling to make the change from carrying a diaper bag that held everything including your foldable tent for the kid, this bag, I highly recommend you start with a tote. Let's face it, none of us have Hermoine's extension charm to hold the whole world in it anyway!

1) Lip balm - if you are someone who carried it around, you know my emotion.
2) Wallet - cards, change, ID cards and driving license
3) Charge bank - Having taken the plunge to use an iphone, it's so necessary to stick to using a phone bank cause well, it is an iphone.
4) Jio - well, Padhu and I took the plunge to use Jio portable wifi and believe me I'm not complaining. It's quick and it's not heavy or expensive.
5) Water


What's in my car?!

I wanted to write about this because G man and I commute by car for everything. (Also because I don't know how to ride a two wheeler and thus do not have a license for the same). We spend a lot of time in the car and I stick to some things when in the car.

1) Sunglasses - for both of us
2) Bits of fabric - we make squares of fabric and keep them in the car to use as napkins in case of snack spillage.
3) Snacks - I may as well travel with a fridge now but I'm waiting for automobiles to catch up and come to that point when we can afford it.
4) A big basket - I keep a big basket in the boot so when we go shopping I don't end up carrying heavy bags. Instead I just put them in the basket and carry the basket. It's easier on the fingers.
5) Empty tiffin box and empty water bottle - This you will understand if you are a roadside shopper like G man and I are. We buy nongu and theluvu (Palm fruit and palm juices) and coconut water frequently. These empty vessels don't make much noise.
6) Cloth bags - The dash always has cloth bags so we can stop at the farmers market to pick up fruits and veggies. The bag goes back to the dash after use.
7) Travel pillow - I got a pillow cover made that can be fitted to the seat belt. When G man dozes off on the way home or school, he doesn't hurt his head anywhere. It's just one of those things that is better by being there!

What do you keep in your bag and car?



















16 June, 2017

What are mommies talking about these days?

If you are from a small town and you have a child, you may know what this post may be about. Over the past five years, ive understood the life of small towners and the dos and don't of it. I've only understood them, not mastered any.

Well, in my town, we do weddings, parties just like any other. But what do mommies do? What do we talk about? Where do we take our kids and what do the kids like?

I enrolled G man in a phonics class and that's how I met this wonderful bunch of women who had become friends for life! We've been friends for over a year now and we spend about 50 minutes together everyday. When you put together a bunch of women without children (cause they are in class) it becomes verbals chaos mostly.

Over a year, we've discussed everything under the sun! Schools, syllabus, bags, lunch boxes, clothes, cars, acne, hair loss, jewelry, family, siblings, gossip, scandals, labour, delivery, c section, epidural, ice cream, laser, Botox - what not! Probably everything under the sun. While in school, remember when you longed for that break period when you could just open your snacks box and eat that yummy snack mummy packed for you? Well, I pretty much wait for this 50 minute break period from the busy schedule of the day. One may call it stress buster or time pass - but we have just become good friends who can make each other feel easy and relaxed so I'm just gonna call it break period.

Break period happens every Monday to Thursday. Kids learn sounds while we The Yappers Club just have friends time.



What are mommies talking about today?

Today, we were mostly talking about what amount of academia intake a child of 4-5 can take. Some kids from our mommy bunch take French classes and some learn swimming. While almost all of us were guilty of trying to push our kids to some class or the other (yes, I said that out loud cause that's the truth and let's deal with it)we were worried about how a two month summer break can make a child forget literally everything he learnt. Each one had a few suggestions and some practice suggestions. None of us are superwoman mothers who want the child to do everything on their own. We are just mommies who want to make sure the kid has all the help he needs at home.

P - P sits down with her kid and gets him to write his alphabets and numbers everyday.
A1 - A giver her kid a slate so she can scribble the alphabets as and when A1 calls them out.
N - N gets her older kid to help the younger one so two inputs help the kid.
E - E sits down every week and helps her kid write his alphabets and numbers.

What I do - G man and I would discuss how each alphabet looked. For example , while in the car he would describe to me how a W looks. He would either say 'two Vs put together' or 'four slanting lines'. I was supremely guilty of not getting any writing done for G man over the summer. As for numbers, we always recited numbers 1-100 in the car or while our evening walks. Writing numbers - nil. We would circle alphabets in the newspaper. For example, circle all Gs - and then say some G words.

How do you get kids to remember what they have learnt in school? Or, what do you do when your kid forgets?










Life is such...

Is it ok that at one phase of life one just doesn't perform and one knows it? Is it ok to wake one day and say, 'today I feel like my old self'? Does anyone ever feel like their old self after a bunch of years that just fly by? 

Today was a day of many horizons. I had kept the love for writing sleeping. Today, I wake and realise it ain't right. It ain't right to blame a situation to hide one's laziness. 

Over a few years life has gone by with many winds of change but today I realise the ship still remains. May have seen storms and summers, winds and winters but the ship remains. Sailed, sailing, setting sail and rowing. 

The storms have tattered the sides of my row,
I thus blamed the storms, 
I know not the storms don't last.
I know now the storms have gone, 
The sails are up, 
The winds of change - they come and go,
They come and they go.

Lightning, be the light that guides,
Thunder, be the songs that entertain,
Waves, be the rains that make me dance,
Let's just set sail again! 



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