Indoor Fun : Summer ideas to beat the heat.

Summers are around the corner and fun for the kids is about to begin. But the mercury is rising high and we will be bound to stay indoor. So what are we going to do with our kids who every hour squeal with ' I am getting bore' thing. The object is to plan ahead. This time ditch the T.V cartoons and the gaming gadgets and let's get into some mind and body drilling. Its time for bonding and creating memories this summer. So start creating the summer list today. Here are few ideas to keep the kids busy in fun way:
1. Board Games: we all have ample of board games but because of the television , I pads and tablets it got lost in our closet. So dig them out. Chess, monopoly, jenga, business, the whole family can have fun playing together. ( for young kids 4+ Hasbro has come up with monopoly junior party kid, believe me I had a lot fun playing this game with my kid) .Its fun and at the same time it teaches counting and using money.
     
                                             
2. Movie Time : Its time to catch up some good movies. Rent or buy their favorite movie and let the kids enjoy it with their all time snacks. You can also play your wedding DVDs and kids birthday bash CDs. Trust me kids will have gala time recognizing everyone in the family.
                                         
                                       

3. Cook it up : Now is the time for getting them involve into the kitchen. Let them try there hands on arranging table and decorating salads . It would be great watching our young chefs at work , making mocktail to beat the heat. You never know they might create a new recipe for family.
                                         

4.Record Memories : Here is the perfect moment to create some memories also time for some progress in enhancing hand and motor skills of our munchkins. With everything going digital we all have countless pictures saved in our cell phone and hard drive. Let's take the print and create a scrapbook. Kids will have loads of laugh and nostalgia while sticking them.
                                   

           

5. Play Dates : kids would love to meet their peers in vacation. Plan ahead and arrange a picnic at home . put a mat,arrange few games like passing the parcel and yes of course their favorite snacks and juices.
                                   

6. Tapping Feet : Its hard to beat the energy of our little souls. Let's get them into some dancing and grooving. It will not only get them out of bored blues but will also vent out their energy, so get along with them into some boggie woogie.
                               

These activities are surely to bring lots of fun inside home this summer.
What's your favorite idea of summer activities. How did you plan to keep the kids occupied and having fun. Let's share them all and make together fun time.

Diary of an Expecting Mom - Truth vs Myth..

Last week my friend Anamika ( part of my girl's gang ) planned for an adventure trip. Since it was a long weekend they planned for a trip to Rishikesh for rafting. All excited she started the preps in full swing going for shopping, buying paddling suits, paddling pants. But little did she knew that the adventure had already began. Her pregnancy test turned out to be positive. Ye kya, O Lord, she asked for a few days fun and you blessed her with adventure all life. Someone has well said " upar wala jab bhi deta, deta chappar phadke" ( wen god gives, he gives luxuriously).

  Now that my friend was expecting not just her Rishikesh trip got cancelled but her life took a 360 degrees turn. Seriously pregnancy is lot many things. It is so exciting to create a life within you for nine months. It is the most beautiful gift of life but at the same time it is scary too,the nausea, the cramps, the heavy belly, when you are expecting everyone treats you like a delicate doll, everyone is suddenly extra nice to you. For good or bad reasons you get everything you ask for.But along with this plenty of advises start pouring from everywhere literally anyone and everyone your friends, friends of friends , relatives, neighborhood aunty all of them are ready to shower  you with plethora of myths (oops advise !!) . The same happenned with my friend Anamika.

                                   

The first and common of all the recommendations was killer papaya. She was asked to stop eating papaya immediately as it would lead to miscarriage... Dear expecting mother's my humble request is please expand your horizon of knowledge it's only unripe and semi ripe that would be unsafe and that too if you eat in kilo's. So stop hitting the panic button if you just had one.

  The second is eating anything white in the morning and drinking milk with saffron in it will result in fair skinned baby.( how obsessed are we with fair skin) I wonder why didn't any milk or bread didn't turned me white by now. And dear mom's to be the only person who will  benefit from your eating saffron is your  kirane wala ( remember kesar is the most expensive spice in the world ) . Well the truth is the skin color of baby only depends on genetics 

 The third is the sex of the baby , every one is so interested in it. If you are glowing its a girl, if you are looking dull its boy. The size and shape of mom's tummy can also predict the gender even the heart rate of the foetus can foretell the gender of the baby O dear next door aunty u failed science ( ultrasound and amniocentesis we don't need you anymore).

                                               

There are various other myths ( read as advise) like eat for two, don't take the staircase, don't exercise don't eat pineapples don't go out in lunar eclipse don't ,don't just don't advise my mom anymore says the little soul from inside.

I don't doubt old wives tales but few myths have no scientific evidence but truth is also this that our mothers and grandmothers didn't had monthly check ups still they did their job best, they didn't had fancy nursing home, big labor rooms still they raised us in best possible way. So don't blindly believe all of them.

Disconnect to Reconnect....

The other day I was out with my gorgeous girlfriends to enjoy a nice lunch, in no time my friend screamed almost giving a heart failure to me and the other people sitting around. It took me few seconds to realize that it was a notification,  Yes " THE NOTIFICATION" from one of her friend getting hitched. It was hard for me to absorb that she expressed her emotion with the sound of 100 decibel's and that too just for a message from virtual world. Her reaction made me ponder where are we heading to???

  I have rarely seen her face out of her smartphone. The cell phone is right next to her pillow like her other limb. I have seen her hitting the panic button when she doesn't find her prized possession around. She is either into whatsApp or  posting her where about on Facebook (you know that creepy feature of check in ) and if not these two then she is on Instagram posting pictures of what, where and with whom she is eating. ( I am sure everyone of you have this kind of friend ). Once I went to her place and chit chatted with her toddler and I was literally taken aback when the little one said Mumma to bas apne phone ki taraf dekh kar mujhse baat karti hai ( Ahh!! there he was , the little soul had so much in his heart).
  Yes, it is convenient to check mails anytime, to send message to your loved one's and  it's even great to know what your friends are up to but don't you think life was better when apple and blackberry were just fruits.
Aren't we cheating when we are sitting with our family or friends for a dinner and we are texting under the table, frequently checking our cellphone. We sometimes fail to realize what our little one is absorbing when we are talking to them and our eyes are glued to smartphone. Can't a forwarded message wait a little more to get forwarded further ?? Can we have a beep free conversations ??? Reality is we can it's just that we have forgotten how to keep our fingers away from our phones.
   Let's disconnect for a while and live in the moment . let's take our kids to park holding hands and not holding our IPhone .Lets Disconnect to Reconnect....
 Here is your turn to know Are you NOMOPHOBIC....??