Armed for Winters!

One of the benefits of living in a coastal city is that we have pretty much hot and humid temperatures throughout the year. For a couple of months though the weather does fluctuate a few degrees allowing us to enjoy a few extra cups of tea, coffee, soups, hot cocoa and cosy duvets.

Unfortunately the temperature fluctuations also bring with them seasonal flu. What is interesting to note that there are about 200 types of cold viruses and our bodies have to go through the entire 7 days of flu to develop immunity against the one caught and will never ever get sick of the same virus in the lifetime (Random Fact: That’s a total of 3 years, 9 months, 3 days and 18 hours of cold!) . As the saying goes, you can take medications and the flu will take 7 days to cure and without the medications, it will last for a week!

However, it does not mean that you have the suffer the severity of the virus as well. Overtime I have a learnt a few tips which I would like to share with you at this time of the year. Here is a list of a collection of tips/remedies/advices that make my little one really comfortable during the occasional bout of cold (Tried and tested).

1. 1. Keep the feet warm: Keep those tiny chubby feet wrapped in soft cotton socks during winters. This will ensure that the baby does not catch a cold in the first place. Make sure that they are wearing comfortable sandals while they toddle around over marble or tiled flooring.
2. 2. Shift bathing time to mid-afternoon: Also try to keep them in a little late-afternoon warm sun-glow and let them absorb the energy and heat. Avoid early morning showers as the baby might get exposed to cold morning wind. Late evening baths are simply forbidden.
3. 3. If the child already has a cold, try putting some vicks vapour rub on their feet, chest, back and behind their ears as they drift off to sleep. Cover feet with socks.
4. 4. If the baby has low grade fever (below 100 degrees) you do not need to give any medication. In case it is equal to or more than 100 degrees, give child about 5 ml paracetamol every four hours. If it raises more than 101 degrees take the child to the emergency room and always keep some paracetamol suppositories at hand for such emergencies.
5. 5. Use a nasal aspirator to clear-up a runny nose. Put a few drops of saline water in each nostril. Close one nostril with your left hand while you aspirate the other.
6. 6. If the child is cooperative, use a steamer just before bed. It will ensure comfortable night free from blocked nose.
7. 7. Dryness increases the chances of catching a virus. Use a cold humidifier at all time during the winter.
8. 8. Rest is by far the most important factor in recovering from flu.
9. 9. If you feel the child is congested, use ¼ of a teaspoon of Manuka Honey first thing in the morning. Just let them lick the spoon clean. Works like magic every time (for children who are one year plus).
10. 10. Raise the baby’s head while he sleeps. Put a few folded towels under their pillow in a cascade form and arrange the baby on the pillow so their head and shoulders are on the pillow. Sleeping on a side also helps preventing the nasal drippings from reaching the throat and causing infections.
11. 11. Keep the baby hydrated. Increase their fluid intake and add juices, herbals decaffeinated teas, plain water and milk to their diet. Pure orange juice is actually very beneficial for combating flu. Chicken broth is great for providing the warmth as well as necessary nutrients.
12. 12. If you are nursing the baby, continue to do so and increase the nursing sessions. They are the best way to comfort a sick baby and also speeds up their healing process.
13. 13. To avoid abrasions to the delicate skin around the baby’s nose, apply some baby petroleum jelly each time you wipe their nose. Cleaning with water is a better alternative, but dry the water droplets immediately afterwards.
14. 14. Keep the baby dry.

Hope that you will find these helpful. Have a happy winter while I go and get my third cup of tea!

Ready, Get Set, Go?

A lot of people may not agree with the idea, but my 18 month old baby boy is already getting prepped up for school. He visits a playgroup thrice a week in a mother and toddler program where his teachers try to force down some flash cards, some old nursery rhymes, colours identifications, colour sorting, shape recognitions, some really technical artwork (like gluing together 3D cards!) while all my son Ayaan is interested in is running around the play area and climbing up the soft-stairs.

This all puzzles me. Do our kids really need this kind of work pressures so early in their life? Why can’t we just let them enjoy their childhood like we did when we were young? I remember my childhood before i joined school was all about spending time with my parents, playing with my siblings, enjoying my toys and creating imaginative pretend plays all in my own time, at my own pace and without any time boundaries and strict curriculums.

I will not blame the playgroup here. They are after all just following the social norms and trying to help these kids meet the standards that the proper schooling systems have set up. Just the other day the teacher asked the group a question. Can you tell me what shape this is?

It was a cube made out of sponge with a cylinder cut out from the middle. Half the group answered: Circle and the rest settled on a square. The right answer, it’s a square. Shockingly, this was the question asked by one of the prestigious schools of the city and a 30 months old baby is supposed to know the right answer! Not only that, they are also required to know 7 fruits, 7 vegetables, 7 modes of transports, 7 farm animals, 7 wild animals and know how to sort colours into their respective groups and they should be fluently bilingual. Have these schools really gone crazy? And believe me; this craziness is quite contagious for the parents as well. What choice do they have anyway? They all want their children to get the best education possible with the best school in the city and so they too are under immense pressure to ensure that they child is ready for the vigorous albeit ridiculous tests and standards.

Why are we as parents so determined to make our children join the rat race as soon as they learn to walk? Do they really need this to excel in life? Am I missing something here? Is this fair? I keep asking myself these questions but to no satisfying answer. I shudder to think that my kid might feel left out or unable to compete with the ultra-geniuses that our society is presumably producing at the tender age of 30 months and less!

I have been told that my baby is on the books to start his own independent classes from this January. I do not feel comfortable with this idea. After all he is still just a baby and aren’t all the parenting websites telling us that the best mode of learning for kids this young is through parent interaction? I am really confused. All I want for my child is to grow up to be a fine human being with high moral standards and ethics (something that is not learned at a school anyway!). I wish for him the best that this world has to offer. Yet I find myself uncomfortable with this system. I question these so-called tests and standards. Are they really a measure of my child’s aptitude to excel in life? Should the schools be allowed to discriminate so early and on the basis of non-scientific test measures? I feel it is wrong. Is it just me?

A reminder to the simple joys of life

My little baby is now 18 months old and this is my first blog ever! I have been planning on starting this blog before my little one came into this world but I had not really taken into account the sleepless nights, marathon diaper changes, day and night nursing sessions, innumerable burping disasters, projectile vomits, piles of laundry and you name it! Loved each and every moment of it, but did not have any time left for anything else whatsoever. Now that my munchkin is a lot more independent, I have finally decided to let the creative juices flowing and start putting some of the precious memories in black and white.

Its a learning experience each day. Every day I learn something or the other from my little bundle of joy. A lot has been said about what the babies learn and need to learn... however what we miss out is how we reconnect with our own childhood through our precious children and how they make us see the world in a whole new light. I love the way my baby licks his softcone enjoying and savoring the flavor, it reminded me of my own childhood when we used to have a competition within the siblings to see who can save the icecream to the last (which my little sister Moon always used to win sometimes freezing part of it for the next day even!) Why can't we take some time out like our little babies, and enjoy and savor the flavors and moments around us? It really is just that simple... slowing down and absorbing the beauty of life.

My son loves to share. Whatever he is eating or drinking, he brings to me, my husband, his grandparents and aunts and wishes that everyone share the joy of his eating experience. He simply would not take another bite till we give in and take a nibble and his resulting joy is contagious! Another lesson that we keep forgetting in life owing to our so-called busy routines. We need to make some time for family dinners and lunches and there are no two ways about it. Family bonding through sharing food is a time-tested old tradition that we need to revive and enjoy every bit of the time spent together over food.

My son loves imaginative play. He will pretend to pick up nibbles of food from my empty palm and burst into giggles over his antic. He hardly needs the expensive toy brands to make him happy. He loves a set of colored plastic cups over his expensive set of sports simulation by Little Tikes any day. Its a humbling reminder to me that we do not need a branded badge on our shoulder to be happy. What matters most is how we make use of the simple things around us and find happiness when we let our imaginations run wild.

I am still in the process of learning... and getting lessons in the simplicity of life every day. Do you feel my son has a point? :)