Did I do the right thing? An email to Aaditya's Class Teacher

Reference : Aaditya Sawaikar KG-1 Daisy

Dear Teacher,

I am writing to you regarding my son Aaditya in your 'Daisy' class.

I am concerned about him crying when I/his dad come to drop him off to his class. I know it is too early and that eventually he will settle in and not cry; but I wish to draw your attention to some facts about him that will enable you to handle him better in a way that he will also love going to school.

1. Aaditya has attended 2 schools previously, one in Singapore and the second one is KL, Bangsar. Both followed the Montessori method. We chose GIIS only because it follows the same method.

2. In both previous schools, Aaditya was used to being greeted by his teachers who took him into class, welcomed him with a warm hug and assured him that he is going to have a great time while mommy was gone. He loved all his previous teachers and schools.

3. Aaditya has undergone an open heart surgery in August 2008. He is medically fit to attend school and carry on activities like any child his age. Why I am telling you this is because he has not been away from us (parents) since his surgery days. He has spent 5 days in the ICU, which were very horrifying for him as there were no family members allowed there. He may be seeing the current separation at his school in the same light as his experience at the hospital. That is why he needs more attention and love from his teachers, and they need to constantly make him feel safe and loved.

4. Aaditya needs to be told to eat his 'solid' snack before the drink is given to him. He by nature loves drinks, and then refuses the solids. I request the teacher to not hand him his drink until he has finished his solid food. He is a slow eater, so I also request the teacher to let him take his time in eating. Why I am stressing his eating is because of his surgery and we don't want him to lose weight, on which front he is already lower than average children his age.

5. Aaditya loves books, drawing, painting, dancing, singing. He is a very social boy, and makes friends very easily. He loves to entertain people around him. He is very loving and a joy to be around with. He listens to everyone who talks to him in a calm and soft voice. Due to his previous schools he is used to being treated with respect, where we have to talk to him by going down to his level and make eye contact with him.

In writing this email, my only concern is my son. I want him to enjoy his school days just like we have. Having studied in the best educational institutions in India I know what good schools and good teachers are, and having enrolled Aaditya in GIIS I am sure I have made the correct decision for him.

I would appreciate if the teacher gives me feedback about Aaditya, what I should do at home to make this school-going easier for him. After all you all are professionals in the education field. I welcome feedback, suggestions in all form.

Thanking you with warm regards,
Neelum Amol Sawaikar

Finger Puppets

I picked up a number of animal finger puppets from IKEA a few weeks back and both my kids just love them.I use them when I tell them animal stories and I think they make the story come alive.They also take the finger puppets and try them on their fingers and carry on imaginary conversations!

I think finger puppets are more handy during story-telling than hand puppets because a number of characters can be used simultaneously. Try using them in storytelling and give us the feedback!

Again I have so much to tell....

Hey folks, I know I had again done the disappearing act....I might just turn into a magician very soon !!
But you know what...I had an amazing time these past days...firstly my brother was here from 3rd...and we had a great time with him....we went to watch the F1 at Sepang, and this was our first time...so we were little prepared for the noise there...it was very very very very very very noisy and very very very very very very LOUD...thankfully there were these beautiful babes with headphones, we bought one for Aadi, coz he was was most troubled by the noise and also coz the headphones cost a whopping 100 RM!!
We had tickets to the Mall Area which is supposed to be with a good view and is covered (read expensive..each ticket cost 500 RM)...no no no we did not pay that much....we found someone who gave us some amazing discounts on the tickets ;)
We went for the qualifying as well as the race day....more details and photos will follow in an exclusive F1 post !!

Around that same time a long lost friend of mine appeared on Orkut !! we were friends since Junior College, and it was so good to be back in touch....and actually I had been looking high and low for her, and then had given up thinking that if only she gets on to Orkut or Facebook do we have a chance of meeting up...and there she was....love u Veda !!

Another major thing that happened in the past days is that Aaditya's school started and we had a super time getting him ready for school, I think we were more excited than him !!
We had some trouble with the school van: what happened was that on the 3rd day of school, the van was late and the driver (lady) dropped the kids only at the school gate and went off to drop the secondary school kids which is located away from the primary section. Now since they were already late, the otherwise good kids of my condo did not bother to send Aadi to his class and he was wandering around in the school campus...luckily Amol's co-worker saw him and sent him to his class. We got calls from him and another lady telling us about our wandering son....we were horrified, we immediately got ready and went off to the school to sound our disgust at this hopeless and careless service being given to us. We spoke to the Director Manojh Nair, and he placed a call to the contractor who said he would check and let him know. He too was surprised how a driver could leave a KG-1 child at the gate !!
Anyways the next day was also same, so we decided to drop him to school ourselves...and maybe next term or even in a couple of months he can start the school van.
But the downside of this exercise is that Aadi is crying when it is time to say bye at the class door...and it is heartbreaking to watch him cry :(
Another downside is that I hardly get any 'me-time' in the morning, as we get home by 8 then I go to the gym and return in half an hour, make Amol's lunch and then he's gone by 9 and then I have to make mine and Aadu's lunch...and then do the odd house-work and again be ready by 11:30 to go and pick him up !!
So all the people who told me that 'now that Aadi is in school you will have plenty of time for yourself' .............it's not true !!!!!!!!!!!!
I know this is the way it is going to be for some time now and I really have to plan my day as best as possible to make way for my writing...coz writing is also my escape and a totally 'me time'.

Some local magazines which I like

I find reading magazines is much easier when you are a busy mother than reading a novel. It requires less concentration and still gives you important information while satisfying your desire to read.
These are a few of my favourite magazines in Singapore:

• Shape :I like this as it contains a wealth of information on health and exercise.I find the weightloss stories very inspiring and whenever I want to drop pounds I go through the weightloss stories to motivate myself to eat well & exercise. The exercises in some issues are quite "doable" but in some issues the equipments are too elaborate! They do a write-up on healthy eating joints which I find very helpful.



• Young Parents :I think this magazine is a valuable resource for parents of babies,toddlers,preschoolers and school age children.Apart from its excellent articles on child development, it will give you information on everything going on in Singapore for children and at the back you can get a list of schools and enrichment centres areawise.



• Singapore Child: I get this magazine free fortnightly from my daughter's preschool and some of the issues contain good articles on child development and what enrichment activities parents can do at home.



• Women's Weekly: I don't read this magazine regularly but it can give you information which may turn out to be very handy. For example, I was on the lookout for facials which provide a good value for money and I found it here.This magazine also contains articles on child development where experts answer parent's questions.
  
  

There are ofcourse magazines like "Her World" & "Simply Her" which I haven't tried yet but would like to try in future.

Update

lots to tell you all...so sit back, relax, get a cup of tea (Sonie), others can have coffee ;)

OK where do I begin?....hmmm....hmmm
I'll just write it as it comes to my mind, never mind the exact sequence of events...

First:
The Earth Hour - last Saturday at 8:30 PM.
I had made a mental note of the time and had also decided not to go out that evening, for the fear that if we were in a mall, and they switch off the lights !!!!
The day went by with the normal weekend activities and by evening I was aching to tidy up Aadi's toy room, actually the room was not in such a bad shape, but the book shelf was the messy part with paints, crayons, bubble-makers, craft paper, books, puzzles all mixed up and just cramped up in the shelves. I went in to tidy the room, and in about 15 minutes I realized that I had to switch off the lights....so off I went and switched off all the lights in the house...but.......I kept the toy-room light on as I just had to ...had to finish tidying it up. A little bit of cheating !!
Hubby dear was stuck to his laptop trying to finish off some work.
After I finished the room, I went about lighting some candles, so that my son gets used to what their purpose is other than blowing off on top of the birthday cake.
We then went to the window and sang some songs....it reminded me of the times when there were power cuts and we would all play 'antakshari'. We even had a game called 'dark-room' or something like that. In this game we (kids then) would gather in the terrace of our building and bring some sheets from home. Like in hide-and-seek, one person takes the den and the others hide under the sheets. The other person has to identify all hiders without moving the sheets.
Believe me it is very spooky for the den-person....but it was fun !!
OK back to the no-power time with Aadi. He enjoyed the candle light, and he did ask me if he could blow them off. Amol played a spoil-sport and went in the bedroom, switched on the light and continued to work away on the laptop. But he did come out 10 minutes before the Earth Hour ended.
In KL, the twin-tower also shut off their lights, many activities were taking place during the Earth Hour, and lots and lots of people did switch off their lights.

Last week I got the wonderful news that my brother was coming over for the F1. I have planned some outings with him, tidied up the house, asked the maid to come in daily etc etc...and so much more to do.

Sunday we finally bought an electric rice cooker, I had wanted a small one, 1-2 Liters, but they were out of stock!! We went to Jusco and not Carrefour, which I think was a mistake only for the cooker part, coz they (Carrefour) has a good stock. Anyways, along with the rice cooker, I bought some Disney T-shirts for Aadu and my cousin Atharva. I also found some very cute stuff for baby Arya.
After spending the first few hours in the Electrical and Clothes section, we headed to the food court for lunch. We had some amazing Thai red-chili Chicken and black-pepper chicken, followed by a fruit plate and another round of fried rice (I did not get to eat this as hubby gobbled it up).
There is an interesting story to the fried rice....listen....i mean read on....
After I bought the fruit plate, I headed to the 'small wok' stall for some chicken-rice. I selected a honey-vinegar chicken and rice, it cost me 8.79 RM. I waited and waited and waited...but the order would not come through, the Chinese lady behind the counter kept giving me apologetic smiles, but I ignored her only to enjoy the performance of the Tepanyaki chef in the next stall. He was juggling his knives around, and was adding the spices with great amount of animation. Now I was so engrossed in his performance, that I did not realise how long I was at that stall waiting for my chicken rice...I went back to our table to check on Aadu who was napping, since he was awake I decided to take him to the stall to collect the chicken-rice. We again waited for like 10 minutes, and finally the dish was out, but it looked nothing like the one in the picture on the menu....I did not bother to confront her as I knew hubby was already boiling with rage and hunger at the table. As soon as we dug into the dish we realized that it was horrible...hubby was super upset, and asked me to go and return the dish and ask for refund....I did not go...so off he went and got the fried rice in exchange.....and while he was there another person also came to complain about his dish. The lady apologised by saying that they were short on staff.

Anyways.....once the fried rice was on the table, Aadu decided that he had enough of the fruit-plate and pulled me to the 'dinosaur-shop', it is not a toy shop, but just one section of the mall above the 'Kidz-zone' is done up in the Dinosaur theme. There was a small party-shop with some lovely costumes and party essentials. We got ready to leave the shop and Amol came from the food court so I did not get to eat the rice :( :(

OK then we went down to the ground floor to the vegetable and market section of Jusco. We bought some stuff and were happy to see Aadi participate in selecting the tomatoes. He even picked up a pack of mushrooms and put it in the cart !!

All things bought...and at the payment-counter. Amol was paying the bill and the following conversation took place between me and Aadu.

Aadu: Mumma ha konta Khan ahe? = which Khan is this?
He asked pointing to a very handsome man in a red t-shirt.

Me not knowing what to say...and utterly shocked at his observation and question.
Me: I don't know....why don't you tell me which Khan he is.

Aadu: He is Aamir Khan.

Blog pick: My child is not eating

This is a new section "Blog Pick". This will have chosen posts from other blogs that we want our readers to read.

Today's Blog Pick is from Healthy & Tasty. This is an amazing blog, where ladies, moms write about health and nutrition, the recipes on this blog are simple, healthy and kid-friendly.
This post was written by PG (we need your real name!!), she lives in Germany and is of Indian origin.

My Child is not Eating

This is the same old story one hears so often in different versions, but, which I think every mother goes through. How easy is it to say "Don't worry!", but how difficult once it is you yourself as a mother who has to deal with it. I remember how long I was worried about my son's eating habits. But, it is always good to inform oneself about such things to know "Is my child really eating very little.... Is it so little that I need to worry? A lot of times the doctors measure the weight of the child and check his growth curve and say "All is well!" And you "Huh!...that's it?!.... It can't be?!".
Since I'm not a nutritionist I can only tell you what I have learned through experience as a mother and what I read and hear around me from others and which makes sense to me.

But, before I begin, one thing should be clear that the focus should always be the child and his well being and his physical and mental health rather than the (amount of) food. As, a lot of times despite worrying so much, a simple reason is that children's taste buds and sense of smell are much more sensitive and there being so many new tastes which they encounter day in day out that they need time to get used to all of them. Keep offering your child these fruits even if it refuses to eat them. But let it remain to that, let your child decide on its own what it wants.

Some tips which might help you deal with the situation better:

1. An important rule, which applies to major number of everyday situations with children: "Give them Time". Keep trying, again and again.... and again.... and again.................. That is what motherhood means.
   
2. Don't force feed. Do not feed him something which he refuses to eat and shows complete dislike for.
3. I do want him to try and taste the food, but if he refuses to eat then I have to respect it. I can pester a lot, but he is even more stronger willed, thankfully!
   
4. Once, I had read that one has to offer a child the particular food at least 32 times (or more; corresponds to the number of teeth an "ideal" human mouth can have) over a longer period of time before you know if your child really dislikes it. I like the idea a lot.
5. Here, there is an old saying which is difficult to translate (Ein kind holt sich, was er braucht) but means something like "a child will come and get for himself / eat when its body needs it" - this will apply given the condition that you offer them a balanced diet, offer enough choice and a healthy meal is served on the table, the rest can / should be left to them. I'll be honest - I find it hard to follow this rule. But, it is surely a good line of thought to follow. Trust them a bit more in taking the right decisions on their own.
   
6. Involve your child while preparing food, like cutting fruits or vegetables. Let them also lay the table get the spoons for example for them to realise that it is time for lunch or dinner.
7. Eat together with your child. It is more fun for them. It applies to toddler age too, once they begin to eat with their spoon, however much they can.
8. Encourage them to eat on their own, don't refuse. Take time to let them eat, It may mean 20 minutes more. Plan this time whenever possible , if not always. You'll be rewarded wit an independent and enthusiastic eater one day.
   
9. With children 3 or 4 years onwards, go shopping with them and ask them what they would like to buy. Try and see how long will the child want to eat the same vegetable every day. One day he might come and say "mom...let's buy something else today.."
10. One thing which I learned after becoming a mother was that a lot of times children quite often instinctively know what is not good for them and avoid eating it, like in case of allergies or intolerance. Now this may not necessarily be always the case, as in such cases you would also see physical signs of these most of the times. But, one does need to pay heed to it and also respect it.
    
11. Don't feed babies and toddlers too many things in one go. Offer just one fruit at a time. Less variety is a much better choice at that age. The lesser number of fruits a child is exposed to at an early age, the better. Only after they reach the age when they start going to school, should one worry about offering them a variety of things.

If you want to start your baby with solids then, two important things one should keep in mind (see also this post on food allergy and intolerance):

1. Choose one vegetable which is considered hypoallergenic, trust your instincts too in this matter and as to what your child would like.
2. Do not give anything else for at least a week. Depending upon the age of the baby, you could either stay with this one vegetable for as long as you feel like (1, 2 or 3 months or even longer) and if the baby rejects it even after a week or you feel that it does not suit the baby - watch his stool and any physical reactions like rashes and redness, then try something else. Even if your child is not allergy prone, it may react to the food, as the body's immune system is developing at that age and it needs time to get to know its environment and overexposure is not good.
   

Good sites to go to for good tips regarding baby food:
Starting babies on solids
Introducing solids to babies and charts at Wholesomebabyfood.com
Recipes for babyfoods at Wholesomebabyfood.com
I highly recommend you to go to Wholesomebabyfood.com for any questions regarding baby foods. It is good guide. Many questions to which your paediatrician cannot give good answers to may be given here, or to questions which pop up in your mind.

This is what my midwife, surely the age of my mother, once said and it impressed me a lot: "...Today's mothers always seem to be in too much of a hurry with their children.... want them to grow so fast ..... do everything and do everything fast...". It's true in different ways, isn't it? Maybe it has reasons, why we are like that, like external pressures, wanting our child to survive in today's speedy world where everybody is wanting to be better and faster than the other. But, for that very reason, we have to teach our children to stay healthy by having a healthy attitude towards food. To learn to enjoy food. And, honestly, do you like all the vegetables? An did this thought ever cross your mind that maybe had we had the chance to choose between eating this particular vegetable or leave it, that today we might actually react totally differently today than we do now, the moment we think of this vegetable. Vegetables are important, but we need to trust our children much more that they will choose to eat healthy if given enough options and time on the longer run. That they will still develop into healthy beings with an healthy mind.
We do need o tell them to keep trying a vegetable, find ways, force or motivation or tricks (fair ones - the child should not feel cheated, the are way smarter than we think, isn't it?),.......... but only to make them try it. Let it be a tiny piece only. Accept their "No, I didn't like it" and don't forget to tell them that you are proud of them that they at least tried it.

Best loved toys in our home

With two kids to look after,a very busy spouse and a house to run,I don't get much time to keep my children's toys well-organised ( seriously need some tips on toy storage & management!). However,toys are an inseparable part of my life and I believe in its power and magic to enrich childhood.

Here are some of the best loved toys in our home at the moment:

• Easel (double sided with black board on one side & whiteboard on the other side):This is popular with both my toddler (2+) and my preschooler (4). My toddler loves scribbling on the whiteboard and he talks while he scribbles.The only problem arises when he decides to use the walls as his canvas.......


• Miniature taxis are very popular with my toddler....so much so that he doesn't leave home without them.He is always carrying atleast one in his hands when we go out.


• Zunairah's pink scooter,tricycle and ride-on are also well-loved by both the kids. Since the ride-on accommodates two kids, a lot of pretend play is centred around it. They wheeze through traffic and go to the malls to do their weekly shopping!
  
• Remote controlled car is Nayaz's favourite and keeps him busy.


• Baking set:I mix flour with water & and let Zunairah play with the baking set.She enjoys cutting various shapes from the dough and Nayaz also joins in.
  
• Breakfast set: Oh I just love this toy because my kids go crazy over this one...it contains toaster,playfoods such as bread,teacups and teapot.The toaster even has a timer and the set comes with a table and two tools.I use this table for their pretend baking play as well. My kids compel me to join in this game and they make toasts and tea for me.


• Barbie playset with swimming pool: My kids adore this toy because playing with this involves water.They usually play with this this toys beside the pool because when they play it indoors it becomes quite messy.This toy really sparks their imagination and they bring along plastic fishes and other dolls to make the play more interesting.


• Fingerpaints & other art & craft materials: Nayaz loves fingerpaints and I usually give him a big sheet of paper to paint.He seems very absorbed during fingerpainting and it seems to have a soothing effect on him. Zunairah now is into more complicated art and craft materials such as glitter glue (somehow the glitter ends up on Nayaz's eyelids) & sequins.
• Legos & Blocks: I think Legos & blocks are perennial favourites of most kids & my children are no exception. I have the Duplo set which is for children in the age group 1.5-4 years old but I think Zunairah may be ready for the next level.
  
  My kids' play is however not limited to these toys...sometimes something as simple as a shoebox is also enough to spark their imagination.

we were in splits....

On seeing this advertisement, my son and I were in splits and laughed our heads off...and then of course we danced just like AB Jr. !!!

Enjoy and shake a leg ;)



The link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx453hBHtfE&NR=1

Kitchen adventure

First of all I want to thank Swati, PG and The Knife, for visiting and leaving comments !! I hope this blog-hopping continues and we get to read all your great blogs !!
And Smita & Manali, how can I not thank you for all your support and great ideas!! Thanks a lot !!

OK so now back to the kitchen.

Swati asked for the recipe of 'Puran-poli' so here it is:
Mind you...like most Indians my measuring quantities are by 'andaaz' (guess).
I used 1 cup of chana daal. This i washed, and cooked in a pressure cooker till 2 whistles. Traditionally we cook it in an open pot. Only 2 whistles of the pressure cooker ensures that the daal does not over-cook. If you feel it needs more softening time, then cook it without the lid for 5-7 minutes more.
One the daal is soft, remove all the water (don't throw this water, it is used to make an amazing 'katachi-amti'; kat = the water of the boiled chana daal, amti = spicey curry.) Let the chana daal drain for 1-2 hours, we want it absolutely dry.
Then take the daal in a pan, and add 1 cup of the sweet agents ie.e equal parts of jaggery and sugar. I chose to use more of jaggery as I have some great organic one from India, and I used only 3 table spoons of brown sugar.
Heat this mixture on medium heat and mix well, it should form a solid mass or it should stick together in a ball. I added a bit of ghee at this stage just for the aroma. I also added some fresh pounded cardamom (elaichi).
Now let this mixture cool. This is your "Puran".

Now for the "Poli" part:
Use wheat flour to knead dough as you normally do; except that you have to add a good quantity of oil to this dough and one has to knead it very well so that it is absolutely soft. Some people add 'maida' (refined flour) in equal parts or the dough is entierly made of 'maida'.
I chose to use wheat flour and a tiny bit of maida.
Leave this dough to rest for a while before you start making the 'poli'.

Putting it together:
Take a small ball of the dough, and make a 'katori' like shape using your palm and fingers. Fill in one tablespoon or more of the 'puran', close the ends like a 'modak' and make a ball. Roll this like a normal Chapati. Roast it using oil or Ghee.

Your Puran Poli is ready.
Serve it with milk, or just with Ghee.

************************************************************************

Today morning I was posessed by Nigela Lawson !! Ha ha ha....I was actually feeling very creative in the kitchen today !!!
I made some strawberry ice-cream, more like a Gelato (I Think). I churned around some cream, fresh strawberries and a bit of sugar in the mixer, and then set it in the freezer. Idea is to churn it around once more before eating.
I also made some Spinach-dough. This was simply done by pureeing some blanched Spinach that was sitting in the fridge. I added some Jeera and a bit of salt to this and then threw in wheat flour into the dough-maker of my trusted food-processor. I did not add green chillies as I this was being tailor made for Aadi. I made some paratha's using this dough and served it with Yogurt.
One more thing I made was Ghee. I had two containers full of 'Malai' (cream) from all the milk that we have been consuming. Usually what I do is put in some curd into this malai, and let it ferment lightly for 8-10 hours (read overnight). Then I take plenty of cold water, and put in some amount of this fermented-malai into the blender along with some cold water. The result is some yummy white butter, that we Marathi people call 'Loni'. Once all the Loni is made, then it is heated in an open pot, until the Ghee floats on top and there is some residue at the bottom of the pan.
Now this is a long-ish method of making Ghee, and my neighbour told me another quick one...she simply heats the Malai in a pot and the result is same, ghee on top and residue at bottom.
I tried this method today, and to my dis-pleasure, the time that it took to finally get the Ghee was so huge, that I was constantly worried about my gas-bill !!
Another thing is that the amount of ghee that came out was far too less as compared to that what I get when I follow my method.
So all in all, I was not at all happy with the new method, and am still sulking over the loss of all that 'would-have-been' ghee :(

Zunairah's first independent play date

Yesterday Zunairah,my energetic preschooler,had a play date with her friend Ashita & it was her first play date without me.Zunairah knows Ashita quite well & is also familiar with her parents who have become good friends of ours.I dropped her at Ashita's place around four o' clock in the afternoon and stayed for some time to see whether she was okay with me going away. I told her that I would come back exactly two hours later and her nanny would be with her. She smiled and seemed okay with the arrangement.

I later learnt from Archana (Ashita's mum) that they were a bit stiff with each other in the beginning but later they started enjoying themselves & started to play with puzzles & and toy kitchen sets.They then had snacks & went to the playground for outdoor play.After half an hour of outdoor play I was there to pick Zunairah up and take her home. I had a small chat with Ashita's mum and then Ashita's dad dropped all of us home.

Zunairah said that she had really enjoyed the playdate and she would want another very soon. I think play dates are great for kids of Zunairah's age because it teaches them social skills . Kids also learn that the environment & rules in each household is different.

Puran Poli - my first try at making them

The stuffed Puran-Poli



Yours' truly very busy and concentrating hard


The yummy sweet goodie - a well roasted puran-poli


The tempered-milk that we eat the puran-poli with


This Holi, I wanted to make it home-like for my son. Do everything (well most or better some things) that we did at home in India.
The day of Holi is a busy day, filled with the Puja, but before the Puja one has to make the 'Naivaidya' (offering) in the form of Puran-polis.
The puran-poli is offered to the Holi fire that is lighted in the evening.

Now the Puran-poli is basically a stuffed Chapati/paratha. The stuffing is made of Chana-daal, jaggery, and Elaichi (cardamom). The Poli/Chapati/Paratha is made using a dough mixture of wheat, refined flour, a bit of salt and lots of oil. Ofcourse water is the main thing in mixing the dough.

This Puran-poli is stuffed and roasted like any other stuffed paratha and some may choose to use 'ghee' (clarified butter) to roast them.

These are eaten with warm milk. This milk is tempered with 'saunf', 'elaichi' and even a clove. Jaggery is mixed in it once it is off the flame (or else the milk could curdle).

My favourite way of eating a Puran-poli is eating it the next morning, again heating it with a bit of 'ghee'. Yummmmmmmmmm ...I am already drooling :P

Well I made the Puran-polis all right, but we could not attend the Holi-fire and Puja at the Lakshminarayana Temple as the rain Gods decided to pay us a roaring visit.

Anyways, I am happy with the baby-step I took to make a Indian festival look authentic to my 3 year old. Maybe next year I will be able to make it more like the one back home.

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Visit to Preschool for Multiple Intelligences

I had read something about a preschool called PMI (www.pmi.com.sg) and so last Saturday I had set an appointment with Dr.Khoo Kim Choo who is the founder of the "Preschool for Multiple Intelligences" and a consultant in Early Childhood Education. Faisal & the kids were also with me & when we entered the school, the kids were made to sit in the play area while we were welcomed inside Dr.Khoo's office.Dr.Khoo told us that she would explain to us the school's curriculum in details.

Dr.Khoo said that the curriculum is based upon concept of the nine intelligences as introduced by Dr.Howard Gardner.Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences says that though the traditional method of education concentrates heavily on verbal & logical skills, there are other types of intelligences. The intelligences are:

verbal-linguistic ("word" smart like authors,teachers)
mathematical-logical ( "logic" smart like mathematicians & scientists)
visual-spatial (architects,sculptor)
bodily-kinaesthetic (dancers, athletes)
musical-rhythmic (composers,singers_
interpersonal (salespeople,counselors)
intrapersonal (researcher,entrepreneurs)
naturalistic (environmentalists,botanists)

existentialist (philosphers;In children this is manifested in terms of the types of questions they ask such as "Why do we die?")

Since the curriculum is based upon the nine intelligences,PMI's approach towards education is very "holistic". There are provisions for sand & water play and there is even a small garden to get children interested in and learn from nature. I feel that young children learn a lot from nature and so the idea of children having a garden of their own really appealed to me.

The school identifies & nurtures the child's unique multiple intelligences & works with parents to bring these intelligences into fruition.

After the discussion with Dr.Khoo we toured the school with her & I really liked what I saw.I felt that the school was a physical manifestation of my vision of a perfect preschool.The classrooms & the activity rooms were cheerful & bright with lots of interesting displays. There was an area for "pretend play" complete with props such as the firefighters hat etc. & also nice & cosy reading corners.

Overall,we really liked the school but the only issue is transportation.The school is far away from our place & there is no provision of a school bus. Also I felt that the full day program was too long (7.5 hours) whereas the half day program was too short (3 hrs) for my older kid.

Re-learning our eating habits

The 5 basic rules to increase nutrient intake

Alright, point noted: we should be eating in silence and while enjoying our own company. Now the next question is, what should we be eating?

By nutrients I mean carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals and of course water. Of these, carbs, protein and fats are called macro nutrients because our body needs them in higher amounts and vitamins and minerals are called micro nutrients because they are needed in smaller amounts. Also, 70 percent of our body is water, so this is something that our body needs all the time.

1. Eat food that is prepared fresh. And consume it within 3 hours of cooking. That means you shouldn't be freezing any food for the next day. Don't deep freeze cooked food. I know for most of us who work regular hours, it is almost impossible to have fresh food for lunch. But you can stick to this rule for breakfast and dinner. And let's face it, most of us in India have maids who come home in the morning. We might as well use this luxury.

2. The smaller the number of people the food is prepared for, the better its nutrient level. More the people, the earlier you start to prepare the food and the greater the quantity of food cooked, the more oil and heat you use. That's why restaurant food can never be compared to home food. And that's why, instead of picking up a salad from your favourite salad bar, you should take a tomato and cucumber with you and eat it as your own on-the-go salad.

3. Eat your vegetables and fruits whole instead of cutting them into pieces, because you lose vitamins from their surface. The larger the exposed area, the more the loss of nutrients. So eat a full apple, pear or plum etc, and don't chop it into pieces. If it's a big fruit like melon or papaya which you simply have to cut, carve it into big pieces instead of pieces that you eat with your fork. So, hold the big piece in your hand and chew on it and literally let the juices flow. Messy but oh so satisfying. In the case of vegetables, don't store them cut. Never ever buy the pre-packed cut vegetables and fruits in the supermarkets. It's like buying food that's gone to rot. What's more, you're wasting all the packaging which comes along. (And please don't kill fruits in a juicer or mixer and pulp them into a juice. Not even if you retain the fibre.)

4. Remain loyal to your genes and eat what you have been eating since childhood. If you are a Punjabi eat your paratha, as a Tamilian eat your idli, etc. Right from the time you're in your mother's womb, your body is used to eating, digesting and assimilating certain foods. Almost everyone except a Punjabi will complain of a bad stomach after chole. There are two reasons for this:
a) non-Punjabis don't cook chole as well and
b) they lack enzymes required for breaking down chole. Most of us now eat food of all kinds, it's being part of our global village. But try and eat at least one meal daily that reflects your own genes. My editor is Bengali and has grown up on her maacher jhol and bhaat. Yet now she lives in Delhi and eats North Indian khana. I've told her she has to try and have more fish and rice because that's what her genes know and love.

5. As much as possible, eat local produce and seasonal food. Climate, altitude, humidity, wind, soil quality, etc influence our digestive system and foods that grow locally. Ayurveda recommends tweaking your diet, habits and lifestyle according to the ritu, or season. Kareena ate momos in Ladakh and they helped her lose weight because Ladakh is dry, windy, cold and at an altitude of 3,500 metres. If she ate the same momos in aamchi Mumbai which is humid, hot and at sea level, she would have become fat. Mangoes are great in the summer. Eat them just once a day as a mini-meal in themselves, and they will give you a season's supply of antioxidants. Store them in your fundu fridge for rains and you won't enjoy them as much; they won't taste half as good and would have lost most of their nutrients.

Guidelines:

Before eating:

Switch off your phone, TV and computer.

Wash your hands (use a soap).

Serve yourself half of what you usually eat, on a nice, clean plate.

Preferably adopt the crosslegged posture or sit at your usual dining place.

While eating:

Drink a glass of water.

Start eating (preferably with your hands) and eat slowly.

Chew your food slowly and deliberately.

Use the entire mouth and don't just chew from one side of your jaw.

While you still have food in your mouth don't pick up the food from your plate (keeping food ready in your hands or on your spoon means you are eating fast and will ultimately overeat.)

Eat with all your senses and think about how the food is nourishing you from within.

Now if you want to eat some more, serve yourself a second helping from the other half that's left. But don't eat it all.

After Eating

Don't be in a rush to get up and get going. Stay where you are for a few minutes.

If you're clearing up yourself, pick up your plate and clean it with water before leaving it in the sink. (Food that dries up on the plate will sometimes stay on the plate even after washing, and can cause stomach discomfort at a later point.)

Excerpted from Don't Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight, by celeb nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar.

Pirate Party

Last year in December I decided to arrange a pirate theme for Nayaz's second birthday.Though Nayaz didn't understand much about pirates, Zunairah was very excited that she would get to wear an "eyepatch" & do treasure hunting.

I set about to prepare for the party about ten days in advance. I ordered pirate hat,eye patch & hook hand from an online store. After hunting for cake designs in renowned bakeries like Bengawan Solo & Hans I decided to order from a woman called Myssaliana whose cake designs I found very unique & creative (check out her cakes in her website http://myssaliana.multiply.com/.) I organized three games called "pop the balloon","put the eyepatch on the pirate" & "treasure hunting" for the kids.

For the treasure box I used a carton & colored it brown and cut three sides of it with a cutter so that it opened like a box.I then drew a lock & voila it did resemble a treasure box! I drew the treasure map on art paper & then soaked it into weak tea to make it look old and tore the sides.

On the day of the party I placed Zunairah's blackboard at the door saying "Ahoy Mates!Welcome to my Pirate Party" & I stuck a pirate flag (which I borrowed from a friend) on the board. Faisal & I decorated our place with black balloons with golden threads tied to them which went very well with the theme.

The birthday boy was dressed in a pirate dress complete with eyepatch & a bandanna which we had picked up from Early Learning Centre (ELC). However,our little pirate was not willing to keep the eyepatch & the bandanna and he took them off immediately.

Leo,who is a very good friend of Zunairah,has had a pirate party before & so I asked her parents to help me out during the party and they agreed happily.When the kids came in Antony,Leo's father, drew pirate tattooes on their hands.We also provided them with pirate hats,hook hands & eye patches. Antony also conducted the treasure hunt in which we took the kids to the playground for an exciting hunt.

I had decorated the table with gold coins & I made blue jell-o decorated with candy skulls. The food consisted of snacks & a main course of "pilau",mutton & veggies.

The party was a major hit & the children had loads of fun! The child who enjoyed the least was ironically the birthday boy because I think he was too young to understand the pirate theme!

6 Things You Didn’t Know About Belly Fat -- And How to Make it Scram

I just had to share this article with you all, and while we are all on 'Fat' we can take one more informative article on it....right?

(source: http://realage.typepad.com/youdocsdaily/2008/05/6-things-you-di.html)

Politicians, gossip columnists, doctors, your best friend -- they’re all talking about the same thing: fat. Especially belly fat. The great thing about belly fat is that the better you get to know it, the easier it is to make it vanish (if only spam e-mail worked the same way!). Digest these stomach-flattening facts.

1. All fat is not alike. Eat more calories than you burn and the extras get packed away in one of two places -- long-term storage depots beneath the skin (subcutaneous fat) or short-term bins deep in the abdomen (visceral fat). Visceral fat is what we call omental fat -- that is, fat in your omentum, a piece of webbing that hangs off your stomach just beneath your ab muscles, sort of like a mesh apron.

2. The fat you don’t see is the most dangerous. The soft, superficial stuff that ripples your thighs and tummy may be a bikini spoiler, but if you can pinch it, it probably won’t kill you. However, if you have a solid “beer belly" . . . well, you’re likely headed for more trouble than a politician hooked up to a polygraph. That’s because too much deep fat churns out supersize amounts of hormones and proteins, which can lead to big hazards. Among them: lousy LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels; high blood sugar and blood pressure; insulin resistance; and widespread inflammation. All are instigators of many diseases -- including dementia, cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. But often you can get a “do over,” and it doesn’t take that long and isn’t that hard, if you know what you’re doing. So don’t stop reading!

First, don’t rely on your scale. As you start to reduce risky belly fat, your weight may temporarily go up. So ditch the scale in favor of the tape measure. If you’re a woman, your waist should be 32.5 inches; if you’re a man, 35 inches. Creep past 37 inches for women or 40 for men, and the health dangers increase.

3. Stress makes you fat. Not only does stress lead you to eat Haagen-Dazs straight from the carton, but it also triggers the release of cortisol, a stress hormone. When stress becomes unrelenting, the omentum attempts to control cortisol flow by sucking it out of the bloodstream. Nice try, but cortisol fights back once it’s in the omentum and turbocharges fat there. That sets off other chemical reactions that leave you feeling hungry . . . and looking for the Haagen-Dazs again. Fortunately, any kind of stress reduction, especially exercise, will help short-circuit this stress/fat cycle. Feeling tense right now? Go for a walk the minute you finish this column.

4. The fat you eat affects the fat you get. When monkeys munched on trans-fat laced diets for 6 years, they developed more deep-belly fat than those who went trans-fat-free, even though both ate the same number of calories. Physiologically, we’re close enough to monkeys to extrapolate that trans fat doesn’t do anything good for your waist or your arteries.

5. Blasting belly fat isn’t hard. If you’re not overweight but still have an oversized waist, the fastest way to shrink your omentum is by walking. Taking a brisk 30-minute walk each day will keep those fat cells from expanding. Pick up the pace some, walk a little longer, and you can give your omentum a makeover, turning a flabby apron of omental fat into sheer mesh again. After 30 days of walking, start doing resistance exercises as well to add muscle and lose inches -- otherwise you’ll hit a plateau. No dumbbells? No gym? No problem. You can get an excellent workout in 20 minutes by using your own body as a weight to stretch and strengthen all of your major muscle groups. Find examples at www.realage.com/ct/shape-up-slim-down/.

6. Whole grains scare away belly fat. If you and a friend go on a diet but you eat whole grains (meaning brown rice, steel-cut oats, and whole-wheat pasta, not whole-grain Pop Tarts) and your friend eats processed grains (anything made with white/enriched grains and flours, cupcakes to noodles), you both might lose the same amount of weight, but you’ll shed more belly fat and lower your levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of damaging inflammation. And your food will taste better, and you’ll feel full longer. AND you’ll have a flat stomach!

Fats you should never eat -- and how to cheat on them

This article has been specially written for me....that's what I felt when I read it first !!
I like food with Fat in them, but I never knew I could cheat and eat them !!

So if you are like me and like your biscuits, cakes, pizzas, mitahi, deep fried stuff....read on and know how you can indulge without the GUILT !!


1. Fats you get from red and processed meat

How to cheat on them:
Eat them as your first meal or after your post-workout meal. Eat these once a week, provided you follow the four key principles (see next chapter) and exercise 3 hours a week. Never combine a bad fat with a high GI food; say rice and meat, or biryani. All biryani lovers, save your feast for Eid!

2. Fat in deep-fried food (pakoras, samosas, bhujia etc)
How to cheat on them:
Eat first thing in the morning. Halve your first meal and have it along with this. Otherwise have as a meal by itself in the later afternoon, but restrict to only one. Do not eat a mithai with your snack! You can enjoy one of these, once a week, but only if you're eating correctly all six days and working out at least three hours a week. Don't reuse the oil once you have deep-fried with it.
Tip: Avoid deep-fried food at large parties, because they are usually deep-fried twice.

3. Mithai, especially made of nuts
How to cheat on them:
Eat as a meal by itself. Have it an hour and a half after your lunch. You could also have it first thing in the morning. But don't mix it with your regular food.

4. Biscuits
How to cheat on them:
Eat them when you've done a very long, strenuous physical activity like trekking, 2 or more hours of shopping. In regular life, restrict to once a week!

5. Cakes and pastries
How to cheat on them:
If you can't bear to give up your favourite chocolate pastry, you're in for good news. Have it first thing in the morning. Don't replace your nutritious meal with your pastry, but have it in addition to it. Croissant lovers go ahead. But don't indulge yourself more than once or twice a month.

6. Pizzas
How to cheat on them:
1 slice (we're talking fast food pizza) and as a meal by itself. Perfect for after a long, boring meeting.

Fat plays a big role in our body

This is an excerpt from a book titled 'Don't Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight' written by Rujuta Diwekar.
She is the fitness guru of stars like Kareena Kapoor and Konkana Sen Sharma.

It is very interesting and critical to know about Fats and clear our conceptions or mis-conceptions about Fats.
Should you be banning fats from your diet? Did you know that fat is the body's answer to bad times?

All about fats

'Look at me, from everywhere I am perfect. I just need to lose this', she said picking up flab from just above her low waist jeans and then pointing to the 'saddle bags' which bulged from under her butt, just at the top of her thighs. 'So many of us can empathise with what Radhika is saying,' Mahesh her husband said. 'My only problem is this,' pointing to his pot belly. 'I am also perfect, otherwise.'

See we all are perfect just the way we are. But we are too occupied doing too many imperfect things. Just one of them is banning fats from our diet. Fat plays a big role in our body. Most importantly, it helps us survive during periods of prolonged mental and physical stresses, sickness, and prolonged starvation. Fat is stored as adipose tissue in the body from where energy can be used in these extreme cases. It's due to this ability that the human species has evolved and survived. So fat is our body's answer for bad times. It is the only nutrient that can help us survive through the toughest phases of our life. Thus your so-called lean times will actually make you fat. Corollary: fat or good times will make you lean. So eat fat to lose fat...

How to eat fat

For a lean, toned body, healthy heart, supple skin and lustrous hair, make fat a part of every meal -- or at least of three main meals. It's not just enough to eat food cooked in oil. Include nuts, cheese, or any other dairy product in your diet. Consuming healthy fats in healthy (read adequate) amounts will actually ensure proper functioning of the body and optimum fat burning. Fats, when eaten in combination with carbs and protein, work at reducing the glycemic index (refer to the section on carbs, earlier in this chapter) of food. So they actually work at slowly releasing sugar in the blood. This leads to effective fat burning, stable blood sugar, minimised hunger, a good mood and a glowing complexion. So of course use oil as a cooking medium for vegetables and dal, as most Indians do; don't try to cut it out. Preferably different kinds of oil.

So if you cooked lunch in peanut oil, try soy or safflower oil for dinner. Include peanuts and cheese in your diet. They can often make up a mini meal by themselves.

Including fats in our diet is also known to reduce mood swings and depression. Children who don't get enough omega-3 can develop learning disorders. Is your girlfriend giving you grief when she PMSes? Just buy her a flax seed supplement or gift her a monthly supply of nuts.

Sand is wonderful !

I love sand because it keeps young children busy for a long time.Yesterday I took my kids to Bishan Park so that they could play in the sand pit.They don't get to play with sand very often because it is difficult to arrange sand play indoors & in their school also there is no provision for sand play (they do rice play, instead).

My preschooler Zunairah was ecstatic to see the sand pit & she immediately set out to use her play set to built sand castles. Nayaz was also fascinated but he was more slow to plunge himself into sand play.He was more pensive & was more interested in touching & feeling the sand.However,after a while he acted energetic and started throwing sand at us.I made it clear that this is something that he could not do.

I got down to play with them & out came my inner child.We made castles & roads & used twigs & leaves to decorate our creations. I was happy to see that my kids were enjoying themselves.I encouraged my preschooler to write letters in the sand with the help of a twig.

Sand play can be very therapeutic for children (my kids slept very well yesterday) & it provides lots of learning opportunities. It stimulates imaginative play when different toys such as dinosaurs or cars are introduced & also promotes physical development (when they pour or sift sand or dig in the sand).Mathematical concepts can be introduced by parents during sand play by providing measuring cups & spoons & also by using terms such as "more","less","empty" or "full".

On the whole I feel that sand play is a welcome break for modern kids are sadly so used to plastic store-bought toys.

Special must-eat nutrient for women

Make magnesium an important part of your diet.

Here is Why:

If you don't get enough magnesium (500 mg daily) you are going to suffer from chocolate cravings (since cocoa and chocolate are rich magnesium sources).

Low magnesium also means you are:

Going to feel foul. It worsens PMS symptoms and cramps.

Leads to osteoporosis

Linked to kidney stones (it will allow thick deposits of calcium to deposit where we do not want it, like the kidney and take it away from where we want it, the bones).

Causes heart problems, high BP, diabetes, strokes -- scourges of Indian women world over.

Causes 'restless leg syndrome', muscle spasms.

Attention deficit, depression and other nerve-related ailments.

Irritable bowel syndrome, vomiting.

May cause early menopause and worsens normal menopausal symptoms.

Linked to infertility and other issues of the uro-genital system.

Poor nail growth.

Causes fast heart beats, leading to anxiety and panic attacks.

Foods rich in magnesium:

Tofu, legumes, whole grains, green leafy vegetables, wheat bran, soybean flour, almonds, cashews, blackstrap molasses, pumpkin and squash seeds, pistachio, walnuts, peanuts, whole wheat flour, oat flour, beet greens, spinach, bran cereals, oatmeal, bananas, and baked potatoes (with skin) and most herbs and spices.

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After reading this article on rediff, I realised a few facts about my craving for chocolate especially before my chums; and once I looked at what can happen with a magnesium deficiency, I realised I did suffer from some of them like foul mood, horrid PMS symptoms, cramps, restless leg syndrome, cramps in my leg muscles.
I also had hair loss, it was caused due to iron deficiency.

I consulted my doctor, and she put me on a multivitamin and vit-e tablet daily and an iron capsule on alternate days. Since starting this course, all the symptoms listed away have vanished and I feel energetic, in good mood :)
The hair fall is also in check.

I do eat one banana daily in the morning. I know a lot of ladies who do not eat banana due to it's high calorie count, but I think if you look at the mineral and vitamin content it is a must for all ladies to have one. Also having it in the morning along with your wheat-flakes and skimmed milk makes it easier to burn off the calories during the day.