Friday 26 June 2015

Random stories!

The other day we took bumling to bandra to meet the new baby... when I got home, Aadi was there, so I told bumling

"Tell Papa where we went today"

Then I waited expectantly for him to say 
'We went to mamu and mami's house and we saw the baby, etc etc...'

Instead out of no where he goes, rather dramatically "We went to Juhu beach.... we sat on the beach"

ummmmmmmm........no!

And the best part is he's so believebale my juhu beach hating husband gives me the 'look' !!!

and this story telling is also getting us to become good at making excuses... And the randomness of it all is hilarious...

Like yesterday he had some crayons in his hands.. I saw a book too so I wasn't worried... 

Suddenly he comes up to me and says 
'Mumma look what I do' 

Which he generally says when he has messed up something for sure! 

So I get up to look for it... Expecting him to have coloured on the walls or floor or my work stuff....

I'm looking but I can't see ...

' I drew on the glass Mumma' he admits finally pointing at his toy cupboard glass door... 

It's actually nothing and I know it's going to come off in one swipe but now I have to be all tough and upset since it is a not a good thing that he did... 

'siddy' in my stern voice ' Why you did this? You know you're not supposed to draw on anything apart from your book' 

So he's thinking why he did it and he goes 

'Because the mosquito came no' 

'Ummm mosquito came no means what? What does that have to do with the drawing?' 

Scrunches his nose and looks at me like why aren't you getting it.. The mosquito came and I drew on the glass ... How can you not see this makes sense? 

Like I said .. Too random to really get upset with... 

It's amazing though the imagination in the two years four month old kids little head... 

:) 




Saturday 20 June 2015

Train them young...

This is not a judge-y post...

Ok maybe a little...! 

But in all honesty it is a 'train your kid young or don't get them out' post...

Let me start from the beginning .... 

So Aadi and I went for dinner last night.. And we took the pudding... We went to Mainland China and for all who have been there know it's a kind of 'proper' place.. Sure it's a family restaurant and all but it's very quiet and sophisticated... But not in a snooty way..

Anyhow.. We got a corner table and next to us was a family with four kids ... The youngest was around nine to ten months sitting in his high chair... There were two women and one man so I'm not sure how the kids were split .. 

We order our meal... Dumplings for siddy and fish for us and are sitting chatting away... I have given siddy two cars and he's happily playing... When suddenly the  baby starts to screech.... 

Not scream not shout... Screech.

It's really shrill ... 

Happens a few times and stops. 

Aadi and I give each other a look like 'wow that was loud' 

Dinner continuous... We reach the end of our meal and the baby has screeched and shouted a number of times now and the elders on the table are oblivious... 

Now he's off his high chair and throwing a tantrum.,, literally lying down on the floor and going kinda berserk .... 

The mother looks embarrassed... But she isn't really doing anything.... The other lady is looking away and the man is simply on his phone.... 

Finally the lady picks up the kid but no scolding no stern voice nothing.... She just sits him on her lap and shows him her phone... He's quite for sometime .., by now we have called for our cheque and are dying to leave... 

Again the kid goes nuts.... And when I say nuts I mean he's bringing the house down... I can see the waiters and managers looking uncomfortable ... But no one is saying a word. The family looked like they had called for the cheque too but honestly why wasn't this woman just taking ur kid out? 

She tried giving him milk, tried rocking him nothing worked... 

But why was she ok with all the other people's night out being ruined is what I wondered... 

Clearly the baby was sleepy .. He was uncomfortable in that high chair for so long... They should have just packed their food and gone home... 

We have taken siddy out when he was that young... But we always timed the outings.. Carried his bouncer... Toys books anything to keep him occupied.. 

She had nothing with her... 

Also seriously... If your kid is wailing at a high pitch - take him out... Maybe he'll get distracted he'll stop... 

She wasn't a new mother... One of the other three kids was hers for sure... And if she was then the other lady wasn't and she should have helped.. 

I think the root of this problem lies at home.. 

When the kid throws a tantrum at home ... The family laughs and encourages him.. And if they ignore him that's worse he'll continue till he gets a reaction.. 

You have to be stern with a kid when they start to throw that tantrum... 

I remember siddy's first ... He lay on the floor kicking and shouting ... Mum and I stood there and stared him down till he stopped.. 

We told him very seriously he was being bad and naughty and this would not work... 

I think he tried his luck one more time and then gave up! 

I'm not saying he never throws tantrums... Of course he does he's two.... But luckily they are never in public and never uncontrollable..,, 

If ever he goes a bit nuts..we simply pick him and distract him.., 

Distraction is the best thing during tantrum sessions... Especially the silly ones... For the serious tantrums you have to use the serious talk..,  

And the younger you start the sooner they will learn... 

Of course in all this craziness what was most hilarious was siddy's expression every time the kid shrieked... He was just so confused!!!!! He would stare at the kid with this look of ' what???? Why!?!' On his face!!!! 

So we treated him to a cupcake at night ... Also because it was our first no iPad in a restaurant night!!! 






Tuesday 16 June 2015

Yayie!!! Got Nominated for the Liebster Award...!





When I started blogging my sole reason was to chronicle my life with the biggest miracle of my life... It was really something very personal... but slowly i started sharing it... with family and friends... and next thing i know... I met random people, whom I know vaguely thru some social platform or another and they come and tell me how much they enjoy my posts... how adorable my bumling is... 

and its a strange warm fuzzy feeling.... I have no clue how to take compliments, so i blush and give them my oddest smile...! 


but yup... inside I'm dancing like a a unicorn on a rainbow!!!


So imagine how i felt when i got a comment from Charu at Mutter n Tochter saying she was nominating me for the Liebster Award!! I had often seen this award on mommy blogs I read.. and always thought "Wow... someone really appreciates this blog and this bloggers work.. must be some kinda awesome!" 


So first of thank you Charu... for making me feel some kinda awesome... especially to have it come from someone who's blog has been on my bookmark list for a while now..!!! Her blog is a one stop for everything you needed to know about things from activities with your bubba, recipes advice and gossip!! 


So here are the rules for the Liebster award:



Thank the nominating blogger
Display the award in a blog entry
List the award guidelines so your nominees will know what to do
Answer questions from the nominating blogger
Nominate your blogger friends for the award
Give your nominees questions to answer
The award is intended to help new bloggers with fewer than 200 followers to get the attention they deserve.
Here are my answers to Charu's questions:
1. What do you consider as your happy place?
My happy place needs to have all my crafty things my husband and my bumling and lots of books and a TV and oh ya lots of food!!! Any place with all of these becomes my happy place!
2. 5 Words that describe you the best
Crafty... a bit mad, happy, affectionate and short tempered!
3. A dream that you would like to see tonight?
To be able to read my entire Harry Potter or Bartimaeus series with lots of Chinese food and Dia wine all night with no one bugging me... and most definitely, the TV has to be on.... for background sound!!
4. Your fav song/book/movie and why?
Sounds cliche but there really are too many. And each book, each song is depends on my mood... 
Currently George Ezra tops my song list, re reading Harry Potter and last movie i loved was SecondHand Lions... awesome stuff!!
5. One secret of being a successful blogger…
I don't know if I can truly answer this because I'm not sure if I fall under that category (yet!!) But I think to be a successful blogger you need to be consistent and active on as many social platforms as there are... and you need to be an extrovert whenever you can be... while you can happily blog from the safety of you home, to be really successful you need to be out there... something i'm learning slowly but surely!!
My Nominations and my Questions :)
1. Subha -http://myikatlove.blogspot.in/
Someone who's blog was an initial inspiration for me to get into blogging!
2. Shenaz- http://shenazwahidblog.com/
A beautiful writer and a beautiful person!!
3. Janhavi - http://mommyblunderstoo.blogspot.in/
My Go to Mommy for everything!!!
4. ArtsyCraftsyMom - http://artsycraftsymom.com/
The most fun colorful comprehensive blog i have seen!

5. Vidyashree - https://thestoreyhouse.wordpress.com/
There is one post as of now... but the things you can expect from her blog are going to be amazing!!

Questions:

1. If you could spend a day anywhere in the world, where would you go?


2.  A person you can't imagine life without...

3. If you were to write a book, what would you call it?

4. Whats your favorite time to blog in the day?

5. If you could have a face to face interview with someone, anyone in the whole world, living today, who would it be?!

Alright then!!

Got that done... took me a few days to pen all this down... but it feels pretty awesome!!

I honestly have no clue really how this whole thing works... its not like there is some actual award, I think the whole point is to acknowledge the work of your fellow bloggers whom you admire... Im always happy to do that!!

Also its some thing like a chain letter... I'm not a big fan of chain letters... but I think this is a fun way of getting to know more bloggers.. :)




Sunday 14 June 2015

Choose a simple life...

There is nothing wrong with a job. 

Ok I don't have one.. The last one i was in, I was there for eight months...

The one before that, a few years ago, lasted 4 months...

And the one before that was for one and a half years ... I think...

But my point is this... In this whole new alternative lifestyle, hippie bohemian lifestyle that we see on Pinterest and facebook and all these other 'cool' online sites ... Makes a person, every person, believe that their job is just an in between before they find 'their calling' 

Your calling. 

What if your calling was that job? And thanks to these pictures of people hanging by the beach, standing on mountain tops staring at the valleys, confuses you to the point that you become unhappy...

And one can become seriously unhappy today if they feel like they haven't found their thing to do...

I recently ready this article about a writer telling people to give it up, take that risk.. Go travel the world, learn about yourself, 'find yourself' the most over rated words I have ever really 'found'!!!!

It's like telling someone to go up to a quiet mountain and meditate... That's easy.. Do it here in the middle of the chaos and show me... 

Finding yourself while on a fun vacation... Not so difficult... 

Do it while you take on the responsibilities of your life and maybe another persons, your wife your husband you parents or your kids... And in that find contentment.. Find happiness... 

It's all great ... To push yourself beyond capacity... To get out of the rut... If that's what works for you, good for you... 

Except I personally feel the people who I see going to mountain tops to find themselves are the most lost... Because they are so busy trying to find that external happiness and a sense of fulfilment that they never really look around them, see what they already have and be grateful for it. 

Take risks in life.. But also know that if you choose a simpler life that's ok.... Yes maybe you won't know the thrill of jumping off a plane but you will know that your kid always knows to expect you home at a certain time... And that's nice. 

Everyone writes about how to give it all up ... No one tells you how to hold it all together and have the guts to stand your ground... They romanticise the 'ideal' life but no one explains how to value the life you have... 

Today it's become 'cool' to lead an alternate lifestyle... And while I think that's great.. For those who can.. I just wish the people who can't or don't , for what ever reason, don't look at that lifestyle and wish they had it while taking their own good, full life for granted... 

Having a steady job, knowing where your next pay check is coming from, marrying your sweetheart, kissing your kids good night each night... It's a good life... Shake it up a bit every once in a while but enjoy it too... 

I don't believe one should live in a  continuous rut or lead a routine life... But all I'm saying is sometimes we tell people to yearn for things that may be beyond their reach and instead of having the balls or not having the responsibilities, to go get them we may just make them feel unhappy about not getting them... And that's not worth it... 

Because the whole point of life is to find your ray of happiness and spread it...one way or another ... Isn't it?!


Tuesday 9 June 2015

The tantrum thrower!!

Kid tantrums are the funniest... Toddler tantrums especially... 

More than them looking hilarious their reasons for throwing tantrums are more hilarious... 

But bumling being bumling took it to a whole new level the other day.. 

So we are in my room and I'm folding all the washed clothes to put away... A task I anyway loath...  And what does he do? He tries to help.. By unfolding every single item I had folded.. 

One time I let it go.. Second time I let it go.. Laughed a little even.. Because hey it was kinda cute because he knew he was messing with me and would actually put his hand on each pile threatening to ruin he folding!!! But by the third time I was upset... So I yelled at him.. 

Actually I just raised my voice a little bit and sternly told him to stop it... 

Mr starts pretend crying and throwing all the clothes on the floor and stomping his feet and all in all he threw a classic tantrum..

Suddenly he noticed he was standing in front of the mirror.. 

So he continues looking at himself and pretend crying.. And when I say pretend crying i mean he is actually going " wah wah" 

Now he's forgotten all about me and the clothes and the rascal is actually checking out how he cries... I come up behind him in the mirror and watch him.. And he's loving it... He's loving the faces he is making .. 

He raises his eye brows, scrunches his nose, frowns at himself.. Opens his mouth wide open ... It's hilarious!!! 

I mean seriously how fake can a tantrum be? Well that fake I guess!!! 







Wednesday 3 June 2015

My Distracted Bumling!

We hear the sounds of the boys playing... Siddy runs to the window..
'My boys are playing, I want to go!!' 

So we change our clothes, wear our shoes, take our bat and ball and go down... 

We come down they are playing cricket... 

They are happy to see siddy.. 

'Wassup siddy?!' High fives... Fist bumps...

A leaf flies by us....

And he's distracted... 

He ignores 'his' boys... He walks off I stand there with my embarrassed smile going 

'Oh, He just woke up.. He's a bit zonked' 

Not!! 

One of the kids is riding his bike .. So bumling wants his rabbit cycle... I pull it out and make him sit... 

He doesn't move... He's busy staring at the boys play cricket... 

' you wanna go play with them?' 

'No' 

Ok... But we aren't cycling ... 

After a few minutes of watching them...

' where is my bat and ball?' 

I go get them ... 

We go to the back compound to play... There is more space and he won't come in between their game...

I take the ball give him the bat... 

' lets play you and me...' 

I throw the ball.. But by now he's spotted a bird or an aeroplane in the sky and is busy looking at it... I get the ball try again..

'Focus siddy .. I'm throwing the ball' 

The ball goes past him... He's too busy watching a little girl and her maid run around... 

By now the boys have finished their game... they are ok to come chill with the kiddos...

' I'll throw the ball Aunty...' 

Ok I say and sit down...

Not once did he hit the ball.. Each time he was distracted by something or another...or he was just busy singing or talking or something... the game was just something that was happening in the background for him... But the poor kid who was trying to play with him was so confused!!!

Suddenly some one yells...

' kulfi has come... Come siddy meet kulfi'

Kulfi is this friendly dog that comes by our building.. All the kids are crazy about her... 

So we put our bat and ball down and run out... 

He stops mid way.. He's seen the yellow flowers... He collects a few and puts them into the basket of his rabbit cycle... 

' I'll give them to neneh' 

And finally we get out... All the kids are playing with kulfi... 

This is his favorite time of the evening... One where he usually doesn't get distracted... And so he plays with kulfi..tries to touch her.. All the while squealing and pulling at my pants!!! 

We go back in... He sees the football... He tries kicking it around... The boys join in... He's playing now... But every once in a while... He goes into this trance... This zone... He just stares out into space... 

Somedays he'll talk to himself... Somedays he'll start singing a song... 

Randomness... Complete and total randomness... 

His attention span to anything is a half second... Any leaf flying any sound of any kind.. A kid running, a car starting a bird chirping... And he gets distracted.... 

' what's that sound Mumma?'

' who started their car Mumma?' 

' who is coming Mumma?!'

' why is she running Mumma?!'

Non stop! 

Are all kids this easily distracted?!!!


Tuesday 2 June 2015

The iPad debate... Join me!

A hundred and one articles on 'reduce screen time for your kids' ' how the iPad is the worst thing you can give your child' 'how Steve Jobs himself never gave his kids the iPad'

We read all these articles on our phone and iPad...do we always read them when the kid isn't around? Do we read them hiding in the loo? 

No .. More often than not we read them when we are around the kids..

Who writes these articles? A blogger... A writer... What does a blogger use to blog? His or her laptop.. iPad or phone? 

Does he or she only write when the kids go to school? Or are playing out in the gardens? 

Nope... Somedays you think of a post and pick up your phone to jot it down.. Your kid is sitting in front of you...

Look I'm not saying give the kid the iPad all day... but please in this day and age when our phones are extensions of our hands do not make such a major deal out of a kid with an iPad.

I remember the first time we gave Siddy the iPad.

He must have been around one maybe a little more... we only played nursery rhymes on it.... cute ones like Old Mc Donald and Mary had a Little Lamb and Twinkle twinkle little star... Three songs he sings fluently today...

It took a lot debating between us, husband and wife, parents to the kid, before we got one... our reason was that if we get one without the sim, he wont get the radiation he would get from our phones that he already was playing with... We discussed the time he would get on it... Only during a very difficult meal time and some in the day if I had to work...

No matter our reasons, we got quite a lot of flak for it. From every tom dick and harry... Becasue people seem to think commenting on parenting styles is a god given right that can be used whether they know the parents or kids or neither....

Today at two, he can use my phone and iPad easily. He knows where his apps are, he knows where his music is, he cant actually type what he wants on youtube, but has figured how to find it thru their suggestions at the bottom of the videos.

We even removed the youtube app at one point when we thought he was watching too many rubbish ones, like the ever famous surprise in an egg shell, so we would find the ones we were ok with on safari and put it on... But now the smart cookie not only has figured that the safari button is just like the youtube button, he has found his stupid eggs again...

The whole point of this is.... Look, my work is pretty much all on the net... I research here... I blog here... I share here... I make all my designs on photoshop , I make my presentations on keynote..so I'm pretty much on my computer for work all day....

If not, I work on my phone... I have my blogger app, my Pinterest so basically I'm on a gadget all day myself...

How do I refuse him all the time?

Before you say anything... look around you right now... out of ten people eight are on their phone... And not all are doing 'Time Pass' most work on it... but point is we are staring at the screen. So how do you say no to a kid when everyone else in the room is using their phone?

Basically the only way to stop him from being on a gadget is to give mine up too...

I'm ok with that... Its tough i'll be the first to admit... my phone truly is attached to my hand... There is no message unanswered, no post no comment unseen... I see the number on any app and it kills me I have to open it to get rid of it...

But here is the thing...after we are all gadget free... what?

Ever tried keeping a toddler busy all day without one... Ok ok all you super moms, crafty moms I can make everything at home a game moms please disappear...heck I'm a crafty girl but the thought of cleaning up all that messy paint after is exhausting... also i work from home (or at least i try to work) so doing anything  crafty post my work is well just more work!

I know mums who are home with the kids and really do manage to spend a lot of time with them engaging them in educational things... And my hats off to them... hopefully once I have mastered the art of balancing working from home and the toddler I will do that too...

But for now... and most importantly at meal times... I am using the blasted iPad ... have you seen how much faster that rice goes into his mouth? Damn, the kid doesn't care what you are feeding him... all the veggies, hidden in rotis of course and covered in curd, goes into his tummy in less that half the time without the iPad.

I know the iPap isn't the best thing in the world, actually I don't really think that... I think anything in an over dose is bad... Yes he plays with his toys , yes he goes down and plays with the boys, yes he reads his hundred and one books, yes he plays with water and utensils, yes he colors with his non messy crayons... but he also loves his iPad...

My point is if you get good apps for him, like we have you are good....like one of our alphabet apps teaches him words like N for Narwhal.... whats a Narwhal you ask? Go get the app!!!!

No seriously... Monitor what they watch... monitor the time but please don't send me a link to why the iPad is the worst thing you can ever ever ever give your kid... I'll unfriend you because chances are we are only friends because we are both online!!!!!