Simple Mats from Vinyl Table Cloth...DIY

MAT MADE FROM VINYL TABLE CLOTH AND DUCK TAPE....
CAN BE USED FOR PARK VISITS OR CLASSROOM

While cleaning some old stuffs today, I found a bright colored vinyl table cloth( the flannel backed kind) that I had bought last year but never used it. Now that Summer is round the corner, I believe there would be tons of outdoor activities and many picnic days. We would need Picnic Mats. A waterproof Picnic Mat. So, I decided to make one. It's the simplest and the cheapest mat you can think of.

First I cut out 2 pieces of vinyl table cloth and 1 piece of quilt padding (which I had it from my other projects) of size 35" X 25" and layered it as below. Pinned the layers together, so that they don't move.

I joined them by a colorful duct tape. You could even sew colorful bias tapes for a sew version.

Isn't it fun and bright? I love it. So lightweight, they can be rolled up or folded easily. And just for $4.00. Can you believe it! Off into my car it goes.....

Oh wait! This gives me an idea for another project....:) Stay tuned!

Damn These Pollens!!

Sunshine, warm temperatures, daffodils, and blooming plants of all varieties...Spring! Aaha!... Most joyous time of the year, Right? Wrong. To few people like us, this is the most miserable time of the year. Trust me, it's not funny, when you try to sleep with a congested nose or itchy eyes or scratchy throat, that too every single day. It takes you back to those sleepless nights, which you experienced when you became a parent. The difference is, as a new parent you could still manage to steal a nap but with pollen congested nose....No chance! You can just try to sleep and wait and wait and wait....

Day before yesterday, I don't remember if I slept, both me and my husband were trying to breathe through our mouth and then coughing ourselves out due to dry throat and then drinking a sip of water.....yes! that's how our night went. In the afternoon, when I went to pick up Aanya from school, my eyes were literally shutting down while driving. Yes, I know, I know. It wasn't safe. I had to stop the car in between and wash my face with cold water. Thankfully I had cold water in the car. So you see, I told you earlier, Pollen allergy isn't funny.

Yes, we have been taking Claritin and nasal sprays, limiting our outdoor activities, keeping our indoors clean, clothes clean....probably that's why the symptoms aren't too bad. But the allergies are crappy....

Before coming to US, I always thought, our immune system would only react if a harmful substance, such as bacteria, attacks the body. But our immune systems are working too hard and reacting even when relatively harmless substances, such as pollen, are present. Infact, I never knew it could cause allergy. When I speak to my folks in India, they too find it difficult to picture the intensity of such a small substance. Just to give you an idea....

All that yellow thing in water and on pathway is POLLEN.

Damn These Pollens!!We want to breathe normally again sooooon!!

Things Women are expected to Do...

The short film "My Choice" by Homi Adajania, featuring Deepika Padukone and 99 other Indian women, talk about Women Empowerment particularly in context of Clothing, Marriage and Sex. I think it was in response to the Nirbhaya Documentary where the rapist had blamed the women for rape. It's the women who are blamed for everything. Our society expects women to do lot of things, its actually amazing how many rules there are that women ascribe to. And what if you don't follow them? Shame...Shame...Shame. You become undesirable.
Come on, people! Get real. Women who don't follow rules have lot of fun being themselves. They are just so FULL OF LIFE. They are joyful and successful. By being herself, woman becomes much loved and respected. That's Empowerment. To be Oneself. Yes, I don't agree to few parts of the film (in particular to sex outside marriage, because that's cheating), but I do agree everyone, why just women, should have their own choice, their own stand, their own identity. We are living our own life and not someone else's... to follow rules.

Here are few things that I feel should atleast be optional or best, be removed from Women Rulebook...

1. To Be Nice: Not sure why are we expected to be Nice. Kind, Yes! Nice, No. Kind is good. Kind people go a long way. They can do anything with grace, dignity, humor and courage. I never tell my daughter to be nice, I always remind her to have lots of fun and be kind.
2.  Apologize: I see women apologizing for every damn thing. " I'm sorry, did I disturb you?", "I am sorry, is this a good time to talk", "I am sorry, but I can't cook today". I am sorry is often irrelevant. "Is it a good time to talk" is thoughtful and that is all you need to be. Unless you hurt someone, please don't apologize.
3. Explain My Choice: If you want to travel the world, paint the house yellow, learn German, or start a business, it's your own choice and you don't have to explain it to anyone. You don't have to tell the waiter that you are on diet- just order salad. You don't have to justify cutting your hair short- just go to the salon. You don't need an excuse to go to an acting school at 40. Just enroll yourself and go. Obviously, you don't need approval from anyone.
4. Have Kids: Not everyone want to have kids. Not everyone want to have more than one or two kids. And honestly that's not so bad. Do things in a way you choose to live your life. We all are not the same and it is not a badge of honor to have a child.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

-Steve Jobs

Zero-Four: All about Toys and Games...

Today I was packing away the toys and games that Aanya no longer plays with, which gives me a perfect opportunity to write up what went well with the toys (as in, her favorites) she has had in last four years. Parents whose children are younger than Aanya often ask me to recommend good games and new parents often complain their child, inspite of having room filled with toys barely plays with any. Hope this post would be some help to them.

Before I start, there are two rules that we follow. Rule 1: Limit the number of toys. The fewer, the better. We believe, with fewer toys kids can concentrate more on each. With too many toys their attention span suffers and rarely learn to appreciate the toy in front of them (if they have countless options on the shelf behind them) Yes, its frustrating at times when kids feel bored, which parents often feel is due to lack to enough toys. But that's the time they can be engaged to Arts and Craft and have plenty of opportunity to play Outdoors.
And Rule number 2 ( which we tried to follow till age 2): Don't spend much on toys. Buy second hand as much as possible.

Age 0-6 months 

1. Bright Starts Grab and Spin Rattle: $3.50  
2. Baby Einstein Take along Tunes : $7.00
3. Fisher- Price Rainforest melodies and lights deluxe Gym: $55.00
4. Baby Einstein Bendy Ball: $7.00
5. Lamaze Play and grow- Freddie the firefly: $15

Age 6-12 Months

1. Fisher Price Brilliant Basics Rock-a-Stack: $4.00
2. Tiny Love Follow me Activity Toy, Fred :$16.00
3. Fisher Price Go baby Go Stride to Ride Dino:

 

 Age 1-2 yrs

1. Lakeshore learning's Play and learn Puzzle blocks: $17.00
2. Fisher Price Brilliant basics Melody Push Chime: $16.00
3. Leapfrog learn and Groove Musical Table: $40.00
4. Mellisa and Doug large shaped jumbo puzzle: $ 18.00
5. Fisher price Laugh and Learn love to play Puppy: $ 32.00
6. Playskool Busy Poppin' Pals Toy: $17.00

Age 2-3 yrs

1. Lego Duplo
2. Mellisa n Doug Stacking Train $ 14.00
3. Small world Toys Living- Peel N Play Velcro play set: $ 19.00
4. Step2 Lifestyle fresh Accents Kitchen: $78.00
5.  Lego Duplo
6.  Fisher Price Rock Roll and Ride Trike: $55.00
7.  and 8. Mellisa and Doug Inside Numbers and Alphabets peg puzzle: $8.00

Age 3-4 yrs

1. V Tech Tote and Go laptop: $38.00
2. Play Dough
3. Step2 Easel for two : $50.00
4. Jigsaw Puzzles and more puzzles and some more puzzles... 
5. Puzzles
6.  Popular Playthings Hexi Snaps:  $29.00 
7. Little Tikes Turtle Sand Box: $70.00

Age 4 

1. Monopoly Junior Board Game: $13.00
2. Quercetti Techno building Toy: $28.00
3. Spider-man Foam Bat/Ball  Set: $13.00
4. Fisher Price Travel Doodler Pro: $22.00
5. Hasbro Memory game: $14.00
6. Chutes and Ladder: $11.00
7. Fisher Price Medical Kit:$14.00

Hope this post will be some help to you in buying toys for your kids. The prices are the current
prices from Amazon.com, which might change in future or you might find cheaper somewhere else.

Experienced parents, Please do share what are your kids' favorite toys. It might be a good recommendation for other parents, as we all know toys are not cheap. A good recommendation goes a long way.

Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookies...

One day, we went to a friend's place and she had baked some yummiest chocolate chip cookies ever...
Normally, Aanya don't like nuts in a cookie, but surprisingly she ate them happily without fuss. What's the secret, I asked my friend. Like an experienced Mom, she said she had finely chopped pecans which is hardly recognizable.
And then, back home, Aanya insisted me to bake the same yummy cookies. Though I didn't have the same recipe but I did add nuts to my recipe and it turned out to be equally delicious.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with chopped Nuts.

Here is the recipe for the easiest Chocolate Chip Cookie. No special equipment. No creaming and perfect cookies to do with kids.

Ingredient ( for about 35 cookies)

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp (1 stick + 1tbsp) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 tsp fine salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, or chunks
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour ( Yes, I made with whole wheat flour)

1/2 cup very finely chopped roasted Pecans or walnuts or almonds (I used walnut and almonds)
(almost like a coarse powder)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper 

2. Put the butter in a microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave on medium power until melted. (Alternatively melt in a small saucepan.) Cool slightly. Whisk the sugar, eggs, butter and vanilla in a large bowl until smooth.

3. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon; take care not to over mix. Stir in the chocolate chips or chunks.

4. Scoop heaping tablespoons of the dough onto the prepared pans. Wet hands slightly and roll the dough into balls. Space the cookies about 2-inches apart on the pans. Bake, until golden, but still soft in the center, 12 to 16 minutes, depending on how chewy or crunchy you like your cookies. Transfer hot cookies with a spatula to a rack to cool. Serve.

Story of a Girl's Sense of False Entitlement

One night, a mom after putting her 4 year old daughter, Rosie to bed, went to the bathroom to have a quick shower and change into her night clothes. The moment she came out, she saw her husband and Rosie (holding pillow) asking her if she can sleep with them tonight. And her reply was a big NO. Rosie resisted and cried. Normally it would have melted her heart, but that day it did not. She took Rosie back to her room and kissed her goodnight. And like always, She was declared the bad guy of the house, silently by everyone.

"Rosie said she doesn't like to sleep alone", said her husband." And that's what melted my heart and I brought her to our room".
"She doesn't like Beans either, or Broccoli or even brushing her teeth. Why doesn't your heart melt then?", mom replied. "It's not that, that we don't let her sleep with us at all. Of 7 days a week, she sleeps 2 (weekend) days with us, so I don't see any reason for you to be upset. Yes, if she wasn't sleeping with us at all and I reacted the way I did, then it makes sense to be slight upset. I think we are pretty fair with her."

Her husband found logic in her explanation and understood. She smiled and went to bed, hoping one day Rosie would understand too.

A lot of times we give in too easily. We just give in too easily to all the requests of our children. Can I have this, Mom? Can I have that? The unending requests and "I want it now" may follow you every time after you child reaches that 4-5 years of age. It happens at my household too. And I fail to understand why we melt down so easily to their tears? Why? Partly because I think its Instinctual. We think its their needs that we have to meet. We are their providers after all. And partly because, seeing our kids happy, it makes us good about ourselves.

Unfortunately, if we give in to every little want and need our child expresses, we are really feeding and nurturing a sense of false entitlement. Also, its a good thing too to give in to your child. So where is that fine line? of giving and not giving. I don't want my daughter to grow up with a false sense of entitlement, thinking she is entitled to everything without having to earn them. At 18 I don't want her to expect a car, without performing well at school (just an example)

So how do you challenge that false sense of entitlement in kids?

Art inspried from the artist Pierre Daura...

Every month, The Georgia Museum of Art, hosts a family day, where kids and their parents are guided through an art making activity. Last month we attended one on the Valentine's day and created a collage valentine card (see here) inspired by Italian artist Piero Lerda. This month it was portrait inspired by Spanish artist Pierre Daura.

Our art spree did not end here. It gave me an idea, why not make portrait of all three of us. Just to encourage and motivate Aanya, I volunteered to make her portrait. And she readily agreed to make mine and Puneet's. I drew it on canvas free hand and she painted on her own, with her choice of colors. Ofcourse, I did help her with eyes and nose...

And here's what we created...

I know it appears funny, but come on people, it was our first portrait ever!!