There was a whole generation of babies that was raised on screens. Screens while they ate, dozed off and played. Then came a time when it was uncool to shove a screen in front of a baby. Zero screen time was the order given. Research papers proved how screen time was damaging not just our children’s eyes but their brains too. But is a zero screen time feasible at all in a world which is becoming increasingly online? Does it not put immense pressure on the parent to “entertain” their child themselves without relying on technology? Is it really a positive thing to do in a world where technology is everywhere? What happens when the parent needs a break badly.. even if it is just to have a quick shower? Is it bad to rely on technology then?
Category: #AtoZ2018 (Page 1 of 3)
Yelling. It is so common for parents to subject their children to yelling. And then one day start receiving it all back in return, until all you hear are yelling matches in the house and no one is winning. I think we will all agree that yelling is unhealthy and best avoidable. No parent enters their parenting journey wanting to yell. But somewhere along the way it just happens. And then there is no turning the clock back to a time when there was no yelling. But like everything else, yelling does not have to be the point of no return. With conscious “no yelling” and consistent practice, yelling can be relegated to a place from where it will never return. Continue reading
In my circle of mommy friends, I am perhaps one of the oldest. Sometimes I feel like an old fogey and cannot make any sense of what the mommies are talking about. Other times I feel like the enlightened one who has had the privilege of seeing a few more (or decades) of summer than the gang. For the longest time I felt trapped and did not know if I was part of this cool gang. Nor did I feel comfortable with the older lot of mommies whose children were finishing school and exiting their teens. I thought something was wrong with me. Then I discovered I was not the only one.
1979. This was the problem. It was not me or you. It was the damn year that I was born in. Continue reading
Right brain or left brain? Logic or emotions? Did you know you can actually consciously program the brain and develop it. There are even ways to help sharpen your brain as you grow older, such as these brain focus supplements if you are really struggling to develop your brain. Sure, you know that all your life’s experiences contribute to shaping your thoughts, feeling, emotions and personality. But did you stop to think, that in physiological terms, all that you do – from breathing to deep analytical thinking, everything is controlled by the brain. How then as parents, can we ignore this important aspect about our babies and children? Surely when we parent children and aim to give them the best of food, health, experiences, skills, we can also focus on the brain, right? Wow, one more thing added to the list. Hurray, or maybe not! Continue reading
Vegan! It seems to be in fashion right now. In every corner of the globe, veganism is in. People are asking “Is it vegan?” And that’s not all, parents are choosing to alter their lifestyles in order to raise vegan children. Has the world gone mad or is this a call which will truly save mankind and this planet?
What is veganism?
Veganism is beyond vegetarianism. While being a vegetarian means you can include dairy products in your diet, veganism shuns everything that comes from an animal. So that includes dairy, eggs, seafood and obviously animal meat, but also things like honey.
Being vegan also means saying no to using any product that may contain animal products. This includes footwear, bags, cosmetics, belts and even using animals for hunting or transport. Continue reading
Years ago my husband and I were lazing on a fairly secluded beach in South Goa. There we witnessed a sight, which we quickly made up our minds for, was to be our parenting mantra for the future. We saw a little boy who belonged to parents from Europe. It was actually a group of some 3 families who were travelling with babies. He was dressed in nothing but plain white underwear and was frolicking freely on the beach, playing, falling, running on the sand. His parents sipped their drinks under the shade of the beach resort’s cafe. The child was living his life. He must not have been more than a year and half. He could barely walk. But he was out there, living the touristy life. And we wanted it too. We wanted to give our future child that carefree life.
Most parenting is about receiving conflicting opinions from people around you. Your own parents and grandparents give you information from a time where most things were natural, homegrown and uncompromised. While you want to believe and follow much of their wisdom we find that most of it is not practical or available today. Speaking of friends, colleagues and peers, you may not have babies around the same time or maybe geographically scattered. Parenting philosophies also may not match. How then do you gain information, that has been tested by application and proven to give results? How do you find support in situations which you know your friends and family may not understand or have experience in? Continue reading
If the world of books was a wonderful place where one could get lost in time and travel to an enchanted place, children’s books are the way to get there. Parents today are increasingly introducing their babies and children to books from an early age. You would guess this would be when the children start reading. But, No. Children are being read to from the time they are as little as a newborn or even before – from the time they have been in mummy’s tummy. Continue reading
Why is the sky blue? Why doesn’t the doggy wear a diaper? Why do we do potty? Where does the water in the washbasin go? And the most famous one – Are we there yet? Thankfully babyT is still a little too young to ask that last question. But hey, did you even attempt to mentally answer these questions? Did you seek the right answers full of logic? Then you are wrong my dear friend! Parenting is all about finding innovative answers to the many questions your children will ask you, because the same questions will be asked to you a million times over. Sadly most parents lose their nerve when their children ask them questions. Half hearted attempts to answer turn to frustration and soon enough the child learns to not ask, not learn and not be curious. You see asking questions is a very healthy habit and you, the parent must encourage it. It’s not just learning the facts and information, it is a lot more than that.
At a time, not so long ago, parenting was about being the leader, absolute authority and disciplinarian. Today we see a very different version of this. Look around you, parents are asking their children for their choices and preferences. They are handling difficult situations much like they would mediate adult conflicts. They are setting goals and providing opportunities to their children much like how it happens in the corporate world. Have parents today gone nuts and living in some crazy bubble? Or are these techniques showing positive results on the development of the child? Positive parenting is seeming to raise happy, healthy kids and showing similar results on the parents too. Continue reading
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