Feeling down? This is how I cheer up

" Smile, the world is sad enough without your woes "

We all have our good days and bad ones. Sometimes the latter leave me feeling down.

Blame it on stress, hectic lifestyle which gives little time for human interaction, or any thing under the sun, some days are just not our best.

Though de-stressing may not solve the problem at hand, it certainly helps clear the mind. This is how I cheer myself up :

1. Pick a Wodehouse, especially Right Ho, Jeeves! Crack up laughing in no time.

2. Do some cleaning. If I look around the house, there's something or the other that needs my attention. Removing stains on the glass table, the refrigerator, etc

3. Give myself a good wash, from head to toe with a scrub. I dislike beauty parlour visits except for a haircut.

4. Yes! Get a hair cut, if it's grown too long, or just feel it is.

5. Go for a walk with the kids to the park.

6. Listen to melodious music or catchy film numbers. Badtameez Dil, Badtameez dil, maane Na, mane Na

7. Call a friend. This one works anytime, not only on KBC/Who wants to be a millionaire? !! After all,what are good friends for?

8. Make soup and eat it too, with a generous sprinkling of pepper.

9. Keep calm and try to meditate. I thought meditation is not for me, had a change of mind.

10. One jaadu ki jhappi from a loved one works wonders.Can't get? Give! This one has been proved to be a lifter.

11. Light aromatic candles.

And go back to work!

What did their moms do?(continued)

In my last post, I mentioned that it's important to retain the inborn curiosity, innocence and imagination of a child even as he/she grows up.

That alone would be the cornerstone for learning and excellence. As the renowned educationalist H.L.Mencken put it

Genius is the ability to prolong one's childhood

What did their moms do?

What did their moms/dads do?

Richard P.Feynman,

Albert Einstein,

V.S. Ramachandran,

Steve Jobs,

C.V.Raman,

Ada Lovelace,

Marissa Mayer,

Indra Nooyi,

John McEnroe,

M.Visweswarayya,

Amar Bose,

Richard Dawkins,

Stephen Hawking, etc.

You get the point? Who wouldn't love to know what their parents did for them which inspired or led them onto excellence?

Seeing my toddler play with legos and colours, I realise it's important to retain that childish inquisitiveness and imagination.

We are born with a scientific method of learning through observation and experimentaion. The key is to retain it.Is it possible in our information-cramming education system?

I promise myself to patiently answer her questions and never put her off saying "no more questions". It's not going to be easy. Yes,let's keep calm and count to ten!

A collection of first memories

I am from my childhood,Childhood is a republic

Coming across this line in NatGeo Traveller sent me back in time to that glorious of all republics, I was fortunate to have.

It set me thinking as to what my very first memory was. Though I can't pin point the first one, I manage to pull out a bunch of them, like old photographs lying in no order. Is it the way memory is stored in the brain? The sequence of initial events is blurred and a collage of faces, names, places, food, smells etc appears on the mind's eye.

Dinner with mom and dad under the silver glow of the moon,

Star gazing with dad,

Mom and dad making lemon squash in summer,

The vegetable garden in our backyard,

Hummingbirds' nest in a creeper,

Playing in the rain,

Crocodile with the red tongue nightmare,

Waking parents up in the middle of the night,

Granny's bedtime stories,

Milkshakes and homemade chocolates,

My plush pal,

The big blue sofa,

Pull along toy train, Pedalling toy car,

A trip to zoological park with parents,

First haircut by a Russian lady,

Wearing dad's goggles,

Granny's mehndi and exfoliating baths,

Begging to stay five more minutes at the beach,

Lollipops on parrot shaped sticks,

Sleeping under the starry sky in summer,

Mom and dad's ancestral villages, the lotuses along the drive,

Attending someone's funeral, too young to understand.

Dad's vespa scooter,

Thinking that tomatoes were manmade!until I saw them grow in the yard,

Miss.Glory, the kindergarten teacher, and a lot more I can't find the right words for.

First fancy dress parade

Hello dearies,
Have been busy for a while with family occasions, a coughing kid and a not so
in the pink' me. I remember writing about posting the fancy dress my daughter wore for her first
School day. Though I was amused with the feathery idea of a peacock dress, it. couldn't bematerialized bcoz of its complexity. So I made her an Upsy daisy outfit, same as the one on freebies, along with the head band.
How I proceeded:
First I bought all the colourful fabric needed, some needles n thread,
Fabric glue,paint.
I cut the fabric for 2 circle skirts- one red n one white. Then I cut the
White skirt into petal design. Glued the white skirt onto the red one.
I also bought a white t-shirt onto which I glued orange,yellow and lavender fabrics
to resemble Upsydaisy outfit to the t. Finally I painted the flowers
On the top with orange fabric paint.
I made a belt Which I sewed onto the shirt along with the skirt
part and it was good to wear.
For the headband, I sewed lavender fabric in a pjipe shape and put a plastic band inside it. I made 9 samesize pipes with fabric, inserted rolled cardboard into them and seed them
Equally spaced on the lavender band. You'll know when u take a look at the photos..

Lazy Sunday

What's a weekend when you have got nothing on your to-do list? And not a soul for company?Nor even a good book? Hmm..that's what this weekend is for me. With hubby busy with work overload, I'm holed at home with baby. So I am reminiscing about last Sunday. We visited the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, with our toddler in tow. The park seriously needs revamping, since the infrastructure is almost outdated. Many animals dont show up, so one gets to doubt if there are any.

We took the mini train ride around the forest, during which we spotted deer and thats about it.  Then there are duck shaped boats available for rent, for people to cycle over the lake. We didnt take the boat since that would expose baby to the hot afternoon sun. Then we headed to the tiger/lion sanctuary in a bus. We could see the wildies roaring and roaming around the bus.

The trek up to the Kanheri caves is worth trying. The best way to spend the day here is to come with a gang of friends on bicycles. Cycle through the park to various locations and finally end it by climbing up to the caves. College-goers might love this outing, I guess, if one is an outdoors kinda person.

May be thats where they went before malls and coffee shops cropped up everywhere.

First school experiences

I'm sending my little one to a play group, since three days. She cries when I leave her in the play room, where some kids are howling. The teacher tells me she calms down quickly and does the activity scheduled for the day. I wait on the school's terrace, thinking if I'm rushing her. Am I doing the right thing in sending her to the play group? She learnt many rhymes, can recognise colours and shapes, sings bed time songs etc at home. The idea is not for her to learn at school but to play with kids her age and the teachers.
Its really heartbreaking to leave her when she's crying. And I even dont know if she's happy. The teachers say she is ok. Its an experience i despise to go through.
May be these playgroups should employ one teacher for every 4 or 5 kids. That way, there can be more attention on the child. And as the saying goes,'the crying baby gets all the attention' , one crying child triggers off a room full of them. Did I choose the right school? If she stops crying in a week or 10 days, well and good. If not, should I discontinue sending her? I just cannot force her as I'm afraid that will make her insecure amd lose her trust in me.
One more thing : there's going to be a toy themed fancy dress competition in 3 weeks. The child should be dressed to look like a toy. I zeroed in on 2 ideas : A robot dress, a peacock dress. Making the former would be easier. All I need are cardboard boxes, aluminium foil, colour paper. The latter option is what I would really like to make, but its a tough one. I'll post the pictures and how I made it when I'm done. Wish me luck!
Ciao!!