It is that time of the day when temple bells ring louder than ever, teachers do overtime, and children experience something that adults experience daily-Stress!
That’s right, exams are around the corner and while your children are preparing for the same, parents too can start working their homework- ‘how to keep children stress-free during exams?’
There was a time when having more than one baby was the norm and having one baby was more of a concern. But today, with rising inflation, exorbitant costs attached to baby care & education, parents are thinking twice about having more than one child. It may sound like a fair enough reason for rearing a single child, but there many reasons why your child needs to grow up with siblings-here are some:
Having a new baby is probably the most wonderful experience of anyone’s life, especially if you just start a new family and have always wanted to become a parent. A baby could be the source of happiness in any home, but if the inexperienced parents really don’t have a clue of what to do with the baby, then the little one could instead become the source of frustration.
It is easier said than done, but working moms do have a lot of juggling to do. A little balancing, though, will make life more enjoyable and less burdening.
With both parents working for demanding jobs under stressful timelines, tablets & phones have become the new babysitters. They help in feeding, putting them to sleep and keeping them occupied anytime, anywhere. Preschoolers use touchpads like feeding bottles and while tying a shoelace is tough, finding the power button on a device is not!
Are we making our kids lose themselves in a virtual bubble even before they have seen the real world?
Let’s look at the effects of excess screen time on children:
Misty mornings 7 early sunsets might be the treat that winter offers you, but winter also comes with flu, cold & other cold-related illnesses. So we give you a list of foods that will keep your body warm this winter:
A Bowl Of Heath!: Start with a healthy breakfast. A bowl of cereal with warm milk and dry fruits like figs, almonds, raisins & apricot. Give a twist to your cereal with porridge or oats and don’t forget the dry fruits!
Aristotle’s statement ‘Man is a political animal’ stands true because of man’s power of speech & reasoning which animals lack. And this power of speech helps us not only to distinguish good from evil but also practice it. And this distinction is the root or genesis of politics. So, when you are teaching your child the difference between good and bad deeds, you are welcoming them into the political world.
Civic responsibility is taught in school in the form of the civics subject or in case of higher studies, political science. Understanding terminologies like democracy, socialism, and other politically related ‘isms’ is one part of the story and actually practicing them is another. Home can be a starting point for raising awareness about society, responsibilities as a citizen of India and the importance of governance. But this awareness should extend beyond the homes. Cleaning one’s room should extend to not littering outside one’s home; sharing or helping siblings or elders at home should extend to helping people on the road or innocent strangers new to town; and caring for human beings should also extend to caring for animals, plants and other living creatures.
Such acts of caring and sharing may seem very redundant but these are hugely political acts. Each decision we make from buying a product to supporting a cause is politically motivated. Our economic backgrounds and social status influence many such decisions and make us who we are. And parents need to realize the role personal politics plays in the larger political context.
In school children are taught, the meaning of government, fundamental rights & duties, constitution, the functions of parliament and its members; all these are facts and serve as nothing more than just information. This information develops into a political attitude when we start to look at them outside the textbooks. Developing a political attitude is very important to make your child understand citizenship. Being apolitical is not wrong, it just doesn’t help much in today’s world that is governed by greedy political decisions and the hunger for power; so much that human beings forget what it is to be civil or rather just human.
Good citizenship today is being coloured as a patriotism which has no place for personal freedom or diverse opinions. Right from clothes people wear, the food they eat to the films they make or watch-everything is judged with an unreasonable bias many times leading to violence. Civic responsibility must exude love & respect for people and the society and not breed a mythical idea of violent patriotism. Raising your children to be good humans, is not separate from raising good citizens.
Winter brings with it serene misty mornings & energetic chilly evenings, but also brings with it 200 viruses ready to infect your kids with nasal congestion, cold & flu. Here are some home remedies to enjoy this festive winter with some home remedies:
Ensure Your Kids are Hydrated: Make sure your kids drink a lot of fluids-it will reduce the symptoms of cold & flu. It also prevents fever which is triggered due to dehydration. Apart from water, milkshakes or juices are tasty alternatives. Broth, ginger ale & herbal tea, though are options for adults, are good to treat cold or nasal congestion.Haldi doodh or turmeric milk is a classic treatment for the cold & sore throat.
One of India’s favourite festivals is around the corner. Diwali, the festival of lights, is here and while you are busy shopping for new clothes and sweets to distribute to friends & family, here are some ideas for decorating your house along with your little ones
Navratri is a 9-day Hindu festival celebrated across the length and breadth of India in the months of September & October. This year, the festival falls between 21st September and 29 September. Navratri is the celebration of good over evil and is celebrated differently in different parts of the country.
Eastern & Northeastern India: Here, Navratri is celebrated in the form of Durga Puja. Goddess Durga who fights the buffalo demon, Mahishasura, and restores Dharma or right way of living or simply, the good in the universe, is venerated and prayed to for 10 days. Predominantly celebrated in West Bengal, Durga Puja includes putting up stage decorations/pandals which house beautiful clay idols of Goddess Durga. People gather at these pandals and worship the goddess, perform rites and recite chants & sing bhajans. One of the eye-catching traditions is what they call Dhunaachi Naach. Aarti or puja is performed using an incense burner called dhoop and sometimes men and women hold one or more than one dhoop and dance with them to the beats of a dhak (a kind of drum played in these parts of the country)