So what is this big hype about the elf and the Santa only rewarding the good kids?
It’s a nice way of taming the kids if they are super naughty 99% of the times this trick works just well, but have you as a mom thought what shall happen to your hyper active kids if you ask them to sit quietly in a corner or not to jump around the house or not to play outside while its getting dark n cold by 6pm?
I wonder what happens to those kids? What will happen to their inner soul and the energy not yet consumed if they want to be in the good books of Santa? Are there no ways we can deal with this big hype of ‘only rewarding the good kids’?
I talked to a few moms around and here is what they say,
a DIY snowman since we have no snowfall ever!
Manisha who stays in Perth has been a regular follower of my blogs and her family of four has been in Australia since 10 years now.
“I am not sure how far will the trend of ‘Santa is real’ stay in our home since my elder one is already 7 and beginning to realize people dress up as Santa and sit at malls for Christmas celebrations. But until last year we had a rule that all the good deeds shall be counted and so will the bad ones, for everyone in the house. If the good deeds weigh more in number, we are all buying that person a special Christmas gift, whatever the he/she wishes for; My kids would be aware of the deed box since November but we often contribute whatever deeds we did throughout the year”
our origami Christmas tree
I was quite touched about this, why punish the bad kids and reward only the good ones? I have seen Grinch like every single Christmas since middle school, and every bad boy gets a chance to be good, no matter green or pink fur-ed…
I met a tutor recently, who I took D for a pre-christmas workshop and she was so ready to celebrate with the kiddos, all aged 4 to 10 years… I wished her good luck for its a task to handle these little storms; she smiled and said, ” I love kids Kunj, and I have handled a much naughtier lot. Trust me, when they are in the positive aura, they are the bested girls and boys” .
I also love how schools teach the ‘joy of giving’ during these few weeks 🙂
talking about rewards all kids as equal, do share what you think as a mom, or a mentor, or a school educator.
you can leave a comment or email me at info@awomansays.com
my son has been very fond of helping his mommy out in the kitchen ever since he turned 1 ! some days he would help me wipe the wet dishes or stack the utensils in a neat pile or even help me with ingredients from the fridge. too much to expect from a toddler to cook one day he expressed his wishes of baking a cake ! we baked a 3 step cake in 10 easy steps. yea… with a toddler making it the 3 steps turned into 10 at the end but the results were really yummy! and i thought of sharing my experience with you all.
his favorite teacher at school showed them how to bake a biscuit cake with out cooking using simple ingredients. which he could not recollect them all but he wished to bake one on his own. giving an ‘ awww, i love you sweetie’ hug to him we went to the supermarket next door. yes, i live next to a supermarket thats open from 9 am to 10pm… i know you are jealous now ! hahaha… every mommy friend i know thinks i live next to luxury and i have no idea what a pain it is to them to go grocery or vegetable shopping with a kid. yes sweetheart i know how it is. and i thank my husband for buying such a property even before we got married… i gotta thank him everyday. hehehe
so we bought this pillsbury cooker cake box at a really good price. it came with a dry powder batter, a sachet of icing sugar and a sachet of rainbow sprinkles. i dunked into my freezer and found some dark chocolate and white chocolate chips from super foods and thought of using them for the cake to add some drama.
while i was reading the steps my son found the opportunity and perched himself on the kitchen platform and i just lost a chance of filming it all on the camera… this was his first time when he was allowed to sit on the kitchen platform ( i am one those super scared mommy who thinks all the wrong things will happen to my son! uff… no more negative thinking mom! just concentrate on the cake baking!). next time we will dress up right and put on some make up and take a good video. and at least avoid wearing a green ben10 vest over plum colored thermal! oh creep, this is not so cute 🙂
so here is the easiest ever cake recipe. thanks to pillsbury!
step. 1 :
open up the package and put the dry ingredients in a non stick microwave friendly bowl. add warm milk according to the package shown. we added 2 cups warm milk. it just says milk but my experience of baking told me it should be warm.
step 2: we added just a spoon of fresh cream to add the softness to the batter. the package didn’t specify.
the pillsbury box we loved.
step 3:
i asked my son to mix the batter well until he sees a creamy texture. my little one tasted the batter about 10 times before we put it in the cooker! i find it dirty to put fingers in the batter but this podgy little fingers and the ‘ yummy… mumma its so nice mumma. really yummy..’ melted all my senses.
perched on the kitchen, my little cook.
step 4: put it in a double boiler cooker and close the lid without the whistle. don’t panic. nothing will happen. i strolled in and out of the kitchen worrying the cooker will blast but nothing happened! my khichdi once got spoiled but this cake won’t ! great invention or whatever the secret ingredient! (i wanted to add more sarcasm but my son was really excited for the cake).
step 5:
keep the bear out of the kitchen for 30 mins. its difficult I know but gotta do it momma!
we bought a new box to play with, and a washing machine came free with it.
step 6:
pull the container out. no wait. turn on the camera first and then pull the container out. take a fatafat quickest ever picture before the kid turns it upside down without you helping him to scrap out the sides and give a perfect tomb.
the cake was so super fluffy and perfectly brown.
step 7: let the minion first taste all the icing sugar and sprinkle and chocolate chips. wait, wait so more… until the tasting is done with. *brat*
his first try and looks near to perfect! tasted just perfect.
step 8:
rainbow sprinkles and chocolate chips and all things sweet!
let him decorate as per his wish. don’t guide him. let the creativity flow. and mommy can just feel the aroma of the cake fill the kitchen and smell sweet.
step 9: congratulate him and take a lot of pictures. send it to his grand parents and uncles and aunts. and oh yes, the father of the kid who knows the kid is not potty trained but hell, the mommy can teach him to bake !
proud mommy moment
step 10 :
hog ! let him tell his experience over a video and pictures and feel the happiness and proud moment of being able to teach a kid how to bake a cake! put the pictures on social media and soak in all the sweet so cute omg wow lovely comments that follow the entire week !
and don’t tell anyone you bought a ready mix box from the shelf. tell them how he dirtied the kitchen and you smilingly cleaned it all while he ate the cake. drama woman ! drama!
my son and I went to this weekend flea market where everything was super costly and extravagant, what i learned was- buying from exhibitions means spending all important cash on useless items.
what my son learned- huge gardens are fun and elephants are yellow and blue.
loving the lazying around
he particularly loved this installation and played around this elephant most of the evening. now grey elephants are so bookish for him because real elephants are colorful! we often see temple elephants on the streets… painted with beautiful pinks and yellows and green hues and then came this one- yellow and huge!
since that day i have never stopped his imagination. we often color cows in blue and lions in pink. we particularly love decorating kites with various sketchpens because they are all beautiful and more the colors more fun they look!
often i see parents restrict their kids with lots of rules and regulate their behavior.
D does like gardens and slides but if he gets to run his trucks and cars in sand and dirt he has his best time of the day! i let him do what he likes. he dirties his hands and knees, his hair often has specks of gifts from nature collected on the playground… i often shout at how he never listens to me to play indoors but hey, he did that for 30 months… now he wants to play outside and this mommy won’t say no! he weaves stories of how his truck is running on a difficult sloppy mud slide and conquers the demon like road! hahaha… have we all done that in our childhood already ?? yes, we have!!
4 of the 30 existing
if trucks are for muddy plays… let them do that!
if elephants are yellow, say yes!
do humans have wings?? yes, they r just not visible , they lay inside the tiny mind of the kid. tiny for us and gigantically grand for them. so many questions and so many beautiful colors that THEY PERCEIVE.
around the time when i will turn 30 i am assuming i will see the world in only three colors- black , white and grey. whereas my son has more shades of every colour than i have in my wardrobe… ready to be painted across his own world.
why do we restrict them to rules ? why can’t we just let them be kids when they are already?
i hate parents who treat their 3 year old like a 10 year old and expect him to show the same maturity in his talks, mannerisms and even conduct!
i can go on talking and arguing about why kids should be let free to play n learn on their own and paint the walls and roll in the mud and play with caterpillars and catch the butterflies in a jar! smash a window with a ball and leave the leftovers for the dog. sleep under the stars and kiss the kittens.
but for now i am too busy to talk about it—–
because we painting the bat green and purple
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he gets in there and refuses to come out. i kneel down and ask again, he refuses again. this goes on … and never ends! little toddler monster.
yes!
if there is another name for monster , it has to be TODDLER!
painting the wall mint!
and why not, toddlers make a mess out of our life. these days its all about making sure the day ends without a single broken thing in the house, without spilling a glass of juice, with no extra load of dirty clothes that need immediate attention and cleaning, with no screaming shouting and asking the same questions a dozen times!
lets not mention the fact once the kid turns two, he has to pee in public and shout at you to clean up the mess, he has to.. HAS TO ! play peekaboo with you while you are in the toilet checking whats app msgs, he has to wake up early morning just to have a sip of water and often skip meal time for which you cooked for over an hour in the super hot kitchen heat.
wow! such a wonderful kid i have.
making a mess is his other name!
by the way, the neighbor complained early this week, someone spilled mango juice outside their door and that someone was calling out to come inside but they could see no one from the window pane.. of course, my little one is too tiny to reach the height where people can see him from the window.
and last evening , we had a buttermilk festival at home. whoever spills buttermilk at maximum number of spots in the house. including my mil’s favorite beige sofa tapestry gets an award! the award is to go out on a long drive date in the car with dad and not come back until mum’s finished cleaning it up!
the smallest puddle verses rest of all
and D won! he was the only one who managed to have the courage to make all those extra large puddles despite me giving him large red gleaming eye looks, he took that as appreciation for the wonderful edible art work he did. i have an artist at home i tell u!! and what an artist he is… he can roll dough and flour everywhere in the home. even my carpet! imagine each room having a weird different smell from the other at the end of the day! you can congratulate him on successfully doing this every single day when you meet him next. one room smells of potty filled diaper, one room smells of flour, one smells of milk spills and another some random food he made a paste of and played like its sand n water!
and the weirdest of all this is, i let the monster do this! because it makes him happy. and there is nothing more sad than an unhappy child.
that doesn’t mean he is forgiven for all the brat work he has graduated into doing:
no food needs to be eaten unless spilled on the floor
monsters shout in temples and try rolling on the ground to see a bug crawling!
these days bugs are what he loves observing. i am not a hater of all living things but bugs creep me oooouuut! specially the ones that want to crawl in your kitchen and even bathrooms. my son… TALKS TO THEM! yes, the future mr.spider man thinks they talk back to him. and all i say to my little man, ‘ sweety, can you plz ask your friends to leave my kitchen and evacuate my washroom?’ specially the spider that wants to make a home under the basin and i never let him do so !
said n done!! he goes under the basin and shoos them off.
monsters are fearless.
friend to all, bugs bees birds squirrels dogs cats
toddlers are monsters. period.
they behave all excited when going to school and then beat up a classmate and make a mess of all the goody-looks character mommy tried to build all these months. i close my eyes and pray this never happened! never even once!
beating up someone and tugging his classmate’s collar is something my son has been trying to be professional in!
i will make sure no masters degree is achieved in this game atleast!
cruel though it may sound, i scare him by saying i will tie his hands! hahaha, and yes, it works all the time!
nothing is more embarrassing than your kid pushing someone and biting someone’s fingers!
last part of the fight!
did you know toddler monsters are difficult to handle in restaurants?
they empty the spoon/fork stands, they throw things under the table and often while mommy n daddy are ignoring and enjoying the meal the monster sneaks coins out of mumma’s purse and pass it on to kids on the next table! coins are ok, i am not comfortable when my son passes my car keys to anyone!!!
we try to ignore and laugh it off, untill some stupid old fat lady gives us looks that say, ‘we are not good parents’ ;
and i give a ‘i dont care how you feel ‘ look to her!
when the day out with the monster is finally over, he has to sleep with his legs where
his head should be! and often out of love hit mommy on the face in sleep with legs. and roll over her and take over all the space she needs to sleep. poor mommy!
looking for more bugs, the day hasn’t ended yet!
so much more to say, this post can never end. but i have to get back to that 3 dozen toys lying on the floor, waiting to be stacked and put in the toy box.
the laundry demands my attention,
new diapers have to be bought because he refuses potty training session,
the spoon and mango bits need to be recovered from under the sofa where they were hidden by purpose.
the chips and half eaten cheese cube needs to be kept in the fridge, though they wont be eaten because its not new. it was half finished and not a perfect cube anymore.
pending work awaits,
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getting on the desk to work with a 6 hour sleep and 18 hour home chores/school going, birthday parties to attend, grocery shopping and playing peekaboo with the kid is difficult! as of today and this very minute i have only two people to thank to… my maid, and my maid !!! i have two maids who do the basic work at home while i look after my kid, cook, and manage the home affairs! i may not be doing all that hard work they do but i certainly get the feel of all those joint pains and aches and puffed eye bags when its 1am , thats exactly when my little one sleeps,
i put him to bed when its 10 30, but he has his own clock to follow and he shit never listens to mumma dearest!
at that time in the night, when even my husband has turned his side and snoring an IPL tune in his sleep i stretch my hands into the bedside drawer. comes to help, a friend indeed.
oriflame and mustang are two friends who help me in my mid night crisis! the feet are aching, there are blisters from the sandpit and water fun-fight! the feet smell, look lifeless, turn black under the toe and heels!
this cream is smooth, smells beautiful and has very non-greasy easy to apply texture. the mustang black n pink toe socks are a perfect match! that 1am or 4am friend, is THIS ONE!
THANK YOU DEAR TEAM MUSTANG for sending them right on time.
i have used a few other brands when it comes to keeping my feet smooth n pretty, who has the time for pedicures with a two year old monster running around? i love mustang the most. fyi, i am sad i dont have pretty prints that can be worn to a comic con! love my son’s pin stripe and avengers mustang babies.
but they come in fab colors 🙂 high five~
my little cherub in his avengers mustang and fat mommy legs/thighs/feet in pop green mustang women’s range.
please avoid the footwear, they are tacky and old fashioned but the most comfiest ones when you have a 3 kg mother bag on one arm and a 12 kg kid on the other arm asking questions that you have answered like 10 times in the past 2 minutes!
we went on a play date where his highness of the handsome colony rocked his attire,
while i the queen of hopelessly freaked out mothers wore the green ones, again turning into a good friend and helping out to avoid slipping on watermelon juice he spilled, and wet grass patch he was jumping on and i picked him up from there thrice! thank you green the kind! no more the color of lier as jim parsons HOME, no more the color of envy. the color of a good friend it is now! A FRIEND INDEED
and now to talk about my
FAVE ONE OF ALL,
THE bright neon pink and sparkling white with the best comfort layer
pic after two hours of workout
the double layering of the cotton threads is not just in the packing, they stay the same and shock resistant even after workouts, this is my fave one to go to gym with. comfort, doesnt let the heel of the shoes to hurt you and beautifully stylish to wear and flaunt!
yes, i flaunt! when i have no abs , arms or legs to show off, i have these to help me do some flaunting!!
mustang at rescue for the blob mom!
they gel perfectly with my white and pink addidas workout shoes! match point!! A FRIEND INDEED
my gym has this rude… like REALLY rude machine where you keep your feet up 60 degrees and do abs! front- side- side
the tyres at the tummy dont like it, but the pretty pink mustang keeps company! thank you love!
if you want to win a pair of mustang for yourself and your little one, participate in AWS contest!
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and instagram follow- www.instagram.com/awomansays
and comment on any of the mustang pics at any of the pages,
contest only for INDIAN residents!
Whenever the weekend is here all I demand is some more sleep, alas! i am a mom and asking for such a luxury is asking thy lover to fetch some stars from the sky in a Shakespeare way!
my son turned 23 months old on Monday, he runs like he is some Tarzan on his way to save the jungle animals from beasts, always running around and jumping! he has learned to talk a lot, a lottttttt !! that makes my ears tired and he is never tired of running around, jumping around, getting curious, talking, asking questions, learning new stuff… no matter what.
so i opened some sites and did a little research, tried to read what scientists and experienced mothers do to put their kids to either sleep early or at least sleep a little more than usual. and here i was trying all of them one by one. after lots of experiments, here are my fool-proof or as you say, tried-tested-successful tips on putting your kids to sleep. no need to rug-mug through various sites yourself! all these seriously work my dear lady!
1. going bananas:
some kids may be fussy eaters but a banana before going to sleep or as a last meal may help the kids feel full and sleep comes easy with the stomach full. eat a little more at a wedding party and you will feel like dozing off at the sofa yourself. bananas are filled with carbs and potassium and often helps kids with energy during the day and with sleep at night. if your kids are allergic to bananas or allergic to idea of having fruits as a meal in itself you may want to skip this idea and move to tip no. 2
we made this banana strawberry choco chip snowman at school
2. doodh doodh doodh … piyo glass full doodh!
warm milk before going to sleep.
contact on info@awomansays.com to purchase these
its no secret, milk helps the kid sleep better. be it mother’s feed or a bottle of warm milk. make milk time more fun with a story-telling or just letting the child sit on your lap. many mothers have a dedicated song for milk time and many kids have a favorite cartoon they watch while having milk. I certainly am against kids watching tv before going to bed but some parents have no choice. the images of their last activity stays with the kid all night and i have a sit on my lap and let me call you sweet names kind of strategy. i always encourage my child with words like ‘i am so proud of you D, i love you my dearest, mumma’s so happy she has you with her blah blah blah…’ of course i mean all of this. say what’s true, say what you mean, say something that makes your kid feel how honest you are for your feelings for them. it always work keeping the kids happy and calm. a calm mind means dozing off on time.
3. Fire on the mountain, run run RUN
let the kid get involved in lots of physical activity in the evening. younger kids may want to crawl or turn around, toddlers may like to run and play.
give them a playground and let them get tired
search for playgrounds or gardens around your residence. if you are a working mom and find little time to take the kid to play in the evenings, ask someone to help you get his little feet moving. take the kid to play dates and malls at nights after you come home on fridays where there are special kids zone areas to play.
D loves his ‘riding the cycle’ time
remember, a/any fruit before their play-time always helps keep the kid’s metabolism intact. a healthy diet will make them tired and not weak. weakness ain’t a good aunt to visit to.
4. get them to think
yes, make the kids think a lot. ask them to guess things under some boxes, give them a puzzle or even a book to read if your kid loves to read before sleeping. let them use up the juice in the brains and they will want to ditch everything and hug the pillow.
apparently, lots of kid docs say that the child has lots of activities going on in his brains which make them mentally active all the time. they tend to think more then adults do. and getting them involved in something where they have to think and apply logic may make them feel tired.
shape and color activity at PEEK-A-BOO
adults too like to solve some crosswords and sudoku at night, read something thats heavy on the brains or just watch a film. extracting so much from the surrounding and only letting her/his brain do all the work will create the ‘lets hit the bed now’ feeling. my curious little kitten always blabbers the most just before his bedtime and this mumma lets him drain all that energy and curiousness, it has helped me a dozen times already!
5. cranberry and grapes
nope, i am not suggesting alcohol but cranberries and grapes have juices that helps calm the mind. a glass of cranberry tart juice or a string of grapes for a mid night snack always helps relax the mind. having it in the morning is very healthy but certainly not for adults who want to rush to work rather than feel relaxed early morning.
cranberry has melatonin, which is a hormone that regulates sleep or sleep patterns. cranberry flavored juices are often famous to be taken along with alcohol for adults. it releases all your stress and creates a calmness.
giving some harmless cranberries and fresh grapes from the market will help your kids too. also its a good substitute for sugar just in case you are not giving any other form of raw or processed sugar in your kid’s meals.
you know how sugar works! ask all those bars of chocolates and those desserts you had during pregnancy to feel better.
these are a few of his favorite things
6. press it warm
its a super tried and tested and recommended tip from my MIL; she says keeping some cloth, a soft toy or anything that’s bulky but not heavy against the child’s chest always help them sleep 60 to 90 minutes longer! wow! this sounds super hai na ? i tried inculcating a plush toy habit for my son, he preferred keeping a soft Dohar. this is his favorite blue one.
D in his cradle
this works for a lot of kids, it did for my husband and a neighbor’s kid and my kid any maybe your kid too. i tried to look around for those cutsie elephant soft toy pillow but didn’t find it here. contact me on info@awomansays.com in case you have those and would like to share/sale it to me please. so the theory says, anything that presses against the kid’s chest that’s not heavy in weight but feels warm and soft will replace the mother’s womb or her bosom and keep the kid emotionally happy and secured. this directly affects the sleep pattern and the kid shall sleep 90 mins longer. have tried this myself. the short cap nap in the noon turned into a nice 3 hour long sleep time. i am very happy with him waking up fresh and happy in the evening.
7. you and I
take a short walk with your kid in the morning , or just spend some lovely cuddle time at night,
marching and giggling, D and mommy
let the kid feel happy before going to bed. the child when happy has a calm mind. a mind with no heartbreaks or sadness has the power to feel more relaxed compared to that which isn’t. let the kid feel loved and pampered. play on the bed and kiss him goodnight, make the kid feel specially taken care of and loved. you will see the magic happening when the kid sleeps peacefully and for a longer time. you will see the kid smile at you when you see him first thing in the morning. [ no kidding with all the kids i just mentioned] :p
love has no substitute
the day my kid sleeps happy and loved he sleeps for an hour more than usual. yelling at your kids to sleep or getting angry because the child wants to jump a little more on the bed will not only sleep a little less but even his sleeping patterns and his dreams are not weighing on a healthier side of the happiness scale. you don’t like to be yelled at, and nor do they!
8. bathe and clean
a tried tested recommended and favored by all mothers across the world. now that summer is approaching, a warm bath before bed and a lotion massage will do the trick. let the kid feel fresh and light and clean and happy and tidy and relaxed! the pretty smell of the lotion will also make you want to cuddle next to the kid.
D
a few kisses and a fresh nightsuit, a bed time story or a hymn, do whatever favors you both and the kid will sleep with a smile without creating any fuss.
“The only love that I really believe in is a mother’s love for her children.”
― Karl Lagerfeld
let me know if you have any interesting and experienced ways to putting your kids to bed early or sleep till late.
write to us at info@awomansays.com
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lots of wishes and good luck on these.
love,
Kunj
O yes, you read it right, its #CaptainAmerica who visited us some days back and we planned to keep them with us.
Here is what happened… since Summer is approaching and for true amdavadis its already here. there is no autumn here… how I wish there was and with the autumn season comes those picnic-y days. anyways, I approached Mustang socks to help us with some new fresh summer collection i kept on drooling on their instagram account. if you are following me on instagram, u shall see me following them too. they have this whole cotton avengers range in kids and bright neon colored ones for women I so wanted to try. The mustang team was kind enough to send me lots of them to try and experience the feel myself.
#captainamerica watches nani teri morni
Here we are, D and me on a school date with #captainamerica from Mustang.
early morning I readied him with a pair of shorts and tee. He seemed happy to be finally out of that stuffy packaging and onto some feet.
little kangaroos shorts + avengers from mustang
sad to say our car broke down that morning and even though avengers the team could fly, he was all alone that day and in Ahmedabad where he could not find the way to our school… so we took him on an auto ride too…
did you check the auto ride pic on our instagram feed on the right of this site? its also on our instagram page. check awomansays page.
when we reached school D took him at this wooden board and brushed some brains… did #captainamerica learn anything here?? well, we tried to :
all play and no work 🙂
the date had just began, we thought it would be nice for him for learn some songs and do some craft too-
D makes a monkey hat
after some snack time, D took some real advantage of #captainamerica being with us that day, he asked the man with mask to find some brushes and tools form beneath the art-work fame wall at school. the big guy helped my small guy.
these socks are so soft and pure cotton, neither they slip off nor feel itchy. a lot of mix cotton socks found in the market these days make the kid’s feet perspire and itchy if the kid is allergic to un-pure fabrics.
I found Mustang to be of excellent quality and so soft that no matter how much the kid runs around in them (trust me, my tarzan runs like no other kid all day long in them) they don’t let perspiration stay on the feet. this eventually makes them no-slip socks and all day protection.
we can ask him to help … hai na?
by the end of class he still wasn’t dirty enough, and my kid made sure not to spare him of some school dust and dirt at the sand pit. i love this area the most in his school… its of the perfect height and D loves to play in it.
at the site
the entire range of avengers is available at all leading kid’s store and a few websites too… we have loved the stripes and spongebob theme all winter. the avengers in summer would be perfect. i simply love the colors and print. they do not shed colors upon washing and the fit is so perfect. right on the packaging is also a small table of what size socks would fit kids at which age. quite a smart thing if I am confused for the length which happened once while I was shopping at Mahindra’s mom and me… after seeing each size for 10 minutes there i still could not decide which size to buy. Mustang packs solves the case right at the spot. D is 22 months old. I use the 2 year size for him since he has bigggg feet.
mustang socks- #captainamerica
the date didn’t end here, #captainamerica slept at the feet and woke up to hear some rhymes and songs on mumma’s mobile; yes, sad and true my phone has become a wreck… need a new cam just for clicking pics for posts. anyone interested in sponsoring one ??
still looking good at end of day !
surprise.. surprise!!!
we took some of our fave Mustang socks even to the zoo. Mumma planned a red and white outfit for the pre valentines day date to the zoo with all classmates. well, the trip to the zoo was on 13th. and we wanted to dress up just perfect!
OOTD
Thank you the entire team of Mustang socks for the wonderful treat. we still have more socks to try on and go to dates on with Mumma. looking forward to trying some spiderman socks now. spiderman is also mumma’s favorite no!!
also mummas in the city, we have one pair of ben-10 socks we would like to giveaway to a reader. contest to happen on our fb page- facebook.com/awomansays fb page
follow us on facebook and instagram and leave a comment on any of the mustang pics on our page.
we shall contact you soon.
D is turning two soon and i have seen him much more mature than a 2 year old should be like. well, all moms want to believe her kid is a unique one and i am no different.
He has taught me to forgive, forget and move on. he has been pushed and pulled and pricked and teased by kids his age and even their moms… what i see is, he plays with the same kids a few days later. this really surprises me about him. he has been taunted and even scolded by mothers of other kids for being a menace he is (and trust me, i am so proud of his naughtiness.. aren’t boys supposed to naughty nosy aunty??) yet he talks and smiles at those moms and aunties like they only mean good for him.
feeding the squirrels
if i say for myself or on your behalf too- we have been misunderstood, misinterpreted, scolded, mocked at, pushed , pulled, tricked, pinched… a lot of this happens with the kids too and still they behave like the world is too beautiful a place to keep all these things in mind and lose all those precious minutes/hours/days in which he can play and enjoy, laugh and jump, doze off after play or even show his love for the kind human race and mute animals. my son taught me how selfish was i to keep all the pain and hurt in my heart and mind all through last year. i had best friends who didnt call me for their birthday parties and weddings, a really really close friend never told me she got a job and even left it, it hurts when your oldie besties you shared cuppa tea with everyday at college are far from you emotionally. initially when i get hurt i try to keep mum about it, then talk about it eventually but they refrain to talk because they want their peace and space. i was once very hurt when my best friend didnt pick up my calls on her birthday and didnt call me on mine just 3 days later.
nothing has to be black or white or gray even
the same has happened with my kid.. some of our very closest relatives haven’t called him on his birthday to wish, not that he understands anything yet but he simply doesn’t care. i have been seriously very angry and upset about some people, some events and incidents in this past year and after all that i learned from my son i free myself from all that anguish and anger, pain and hurt… TODAY ITSELF
I FREE MYSELF from all the anger i have for her, for regretting not telling my parents how much i have learned from them and how better a person i am because of them. i free myself from all those memos of guilt when i didn’t behave like a good mom should be, when i shouted at my child because i couldn’t cope up with my own emotional upheavals. because i could not handle him for the 22 month old that he is.
let there be light
let it all go… let me just live the way D does- carefree, loving, and forgiving! i want to embrace the world and its beautiful things. i want to tell my loves ones and my best friends what they mean to me. my son has taught me a lot more than what just motherhood should be like. he helps me to be a better person every day. i hope some day he reads this and realizes being a parent is not as easy as being a child is. and “thank you my son” for you showed me what self help books don’t. i shall try to be like you and be a good example for who you should be like when you become a parent yourself. (wow! ain’t i talking about something way too far for ??)
“heal the world, make it a better place… for you and for me and the entire human race!”
-Micheal Jackson.
What happens when a new mom makes resolutions on Jan 1, 2014 and never stick to them ?
She grins while patting her kid to sleep and blames the motherhood and new challenges it throws on her for not being able to keep up with those promises she made for herself.
i made many of them and washed them down the drain with those shiny bottle wash bubbles that smells oh so awesome!
yes, motherhood captivated me and it took me a year to realize that i was losing myself in trying to build a mother in me that was supposed to flow out all natural,
i became a carbivore and heaped my meal plates with carbs and calories i never needed and gave excuses about the b.feed that needed more nutrition for the kid… i seldom did any exercise because i used to be tired from all those sleepless nights during the day… i needed a calorie filled pancake or sundae every sunday because i could not leave my pregnancy cravings behind me… and even on days when i had had a lot many nappy changes and potty cleaning that became stressful. all these things i call mistakes are hard to accept because whenever i came face to face with them in the mirror i could see myself losing. it took me time to get my head on my shoulder and get serious about looking after my health too,
this consciousness hit me when i heard about my husband’s friend who passed away when her second child was just 4 months old, she was not at all health conscious and all the fat accumulated in her body resulted in a cardiac arrest. it happened so suddenly and left everyone in shock. my husband told me how all those calories she had piled up and didnt bother to lose after the delivery costed her and her family so much. this was an awakening incident. all i could think at that time was what would happen to her children and of the 4 month old ???
i have had all my excuses to gain weight when my 2014 resolution was to lose it, i have made excuses and stayed inside those flowy black outfits to hide my curves and bulges, my belly and arms that made me look like an auntie. i connected with my kid only as a mother and thought thats what i should be concentrating on. thank god that year is over and gone and nothing bad has ever happened to anyone of us.
this year i plan to exercise more, stick to a 2 hour a day gym routine, home school my kid and show him i am more than just a mom who can clean and feed him, i will spend heavily on lots of new outfits and none should be black, i plan to cut down on carbs and do some healthy eating… pizzas can wait, the world will never run out of them ever!
BLACK AND FAT
This year i will try and avoid what my weight is on the weighing scale and rather focus on the weight i have on this earth, the weight of the impact i have on my kid’s life and others important to me. i may never fit into those college jeans ever. i will never have those super firm breasts i once had, i may not be able to slid into a swimming suit that can carefully hide my stretch marks and not let a soul know about it, but the weight that my personality carries in my son’s life will be reflected in his entire life and i do not wish to mess up with that. i have often observed how good an observer my son is. he knows his manners when none of them are taught to him, he just simply observes us and copies it and makes it his habit. i am now more careful about my actions on a day to day basis, i am now more choosy about my words and what i talk to him. i want him to teach things no school will ever teach him- that no resolution is worth making if it doesnt make your soul merrier and healthier.
i want him to learn that he will be responsible for all his actions- kind or tempered and if mumma does it, she will get the same as a return gift from God.
everyone gets the same of what they give to this world.
happy and relaxed
and most importantly i am gonna quit comparing my son with other kids his age from this very momemt itself. I do not want anyone to teach me how to be a better mom, my child will lead to be one. I have to trust my maternal instincts.
this year i am gonna make the best OF THE WOMAN I AM.
WHAT ARE YOUR RESOLUTIONS?
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Crocs are my son’s favorite footwear and why not, they are just so super comfortable. and more than just comfort they are so light and fuss free to wear and run about in. and they attract a lot of playfulness, along with dirt and mud.
i have a Garfield shoes in the same material- light and white and pretty and bright.
ummm.. bright and white but not all the time-
awomansays
all i need were these, i selected a PH balanced wash liquid by Oriflame (not at all sweety, this product is definitely not meant for a croc wash) and a used unwanted toothbrush (i wont declare who used it before else I shall be in big trouble eeks!) ; ofcourse you can use any good liquid as far as you are confident they wont have a harsh effect on your little one’s feet.
tools to wash
these are his favorite dirt sucking monsters :
the dirty monsters
which after the wash became these pretty feet props to chase a few puppies in the parking:
where’s my water??
i shall be doing a lot many “HOW TO : ” TUTORIALS in the future too and i thought this maybe the best one to start with. my super active baby son has them on all the time and i need to clean them atleast once a week… i wanted to share a pic by pic ‘how to:’ since i feel a lot many other moms may find this helpful.
STEP 1 :
a few drops of the cleansing liquid into the shoes and brush them well with the bristles like you clean the sipper spouts… run through each corners n every speck of dirt (we are such crazy obsessive mothers, o Lord!)
dig the front bristles till the front ends
STEP 2 :
once you are done running the front and back of the brush in and out you may want to rub the bottoms and even the sides…
clean the bottom… the back
… and the sides too
STEP 3 :
turn them over and let them dry… simple ! i dry them over a small towel over the bed rest so that nothing is spoiled beneath and my munchkin cannot reach all the way there to pick the wet ones only to dirty them more before they dry out.
quick dry method
since crocs and shoes of similar material dry out quickly it only takes a while to pick them up again and slid them onto the ‘ready-to-run’ feet. you might want to consider keeping them under the sun for a more woolly or cloth material.
white n bright
my son has 6 pairs of footwear but these 2 are his favorite of them all. and why not, mum washes them every week. they are far more better to wear na??
my champ
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