Hi Girls (ok Moms),
I say girls because that is the way I feel when I am with my friends around. Not ladies, females, women…no, just carefree girls who are also very responsible Moms.
Ok, first the good news is that the Desi Momz Club has made its presence felt is proved :) How ? Because now we now have websites/groups with almost the same names as ours who are trying to invite members from our Club to go and contribute at theirs, HUH ?? If you are still clueless check comments at the previous post.
Now why do I need help ? Because this is your blog and the thing is due to some commitments on the personal front I will be on a time crunch from this month. So I really, really need some help with this blog. I will still do all the admin stuff, but I need help with the other areas like posts, theme of the month etc.
I had requested earlier, but most of you missed. So I hope you will not give it a miss this time.
1. The Theme of the Month is a theme we decide for each month and request Moms to post. This needs fresh ideas. Please opt to take up a month and decide for a theme you think appropriate for that month. Conduct the Theme for the month you choose your way. Please send me a mail to volunteer. Following months are being done by:
Theme of Month for October -- Tharini
Theme of Month for November -- Kodi's Mom
2. Please come up with fresh interesting ideas and how we can implement them in this blog. I keep on telling, this is everyone’s blog so if you have ideas about making this a better community please let all of us here know.
3. Our club is not only about the Theme of the Month as you all know. So please feel free to share stories about your kid, interesting game ideas (remember Puzzles), activities (remember Rainy day Activity) and in fact anything that you think would be nice to share with all other Moms like us. I know many times I prowl around and ask you to post stuff but please please go ahead and share because I might not prowl that often :)
4. Many of the Moms here have a blog of their own where they chronicle their kid milestones. If you do not have a blog but would like to share milestones of your kids, or some incident involving them which you would like to chronicle and at the same time do not mind sharing with others, please feel free to do so. We would love to hear about your kids. Just remember to write "This post by X" for your posts, that way when searched with your name, you can get a collection of all posts written by you.
5. Last and the most interesting bit, after reading this post at Tharini's, Tharini & me ran into this grand idea to have a Kid Food Fest at DMC. The food fest would be showcasing Desi style food for kids that can be packed for school lunches without a mess and should be healthy and interesting enough so that the kids eat it without a fuss. Please,please respond with ideas as to how you would like the Food Fest conducted, would you pick a day each week to showcase Kid Food, does any of you want to conduct it ? Let me know and I will put up the general guidelines for Food Fest
Hope to hear from everyone this time and lets make this a wonderful community
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Mommy Humor
Posted by Kavitha
Hey moms,
I had fun reading it, I know you will too..
THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES
(For those that don’t know about the popular TV show – SURVIVOR, read it here)
Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.
Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.
There is no fast food.
Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of "pretend" bills with not enough money.
In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.
Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time.
Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a hair cut appointment. He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care (weekend, evening, on a holiday or right when they 're about to leave for vacation).
He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.
Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.
The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.
Each father will be required to know all of the words to every stupid song that comes on TV and the name of each and every character on cartoons.
Each man will have to make an Indian hut model with six toothpicks, a tortilla and one marker; and get a 4 year old to eat a serving of peas.
Each man must adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep their nails polished and eyebrows groomed.
The men must try to get through each day without snot, spit-up or barf on their clothing.
During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.
They must try to explain what a tampon is for when the 6-yr old boy finds it in the purse.
They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.
He will need to read a book to the children each night without falling asleep, and then feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair each morning by 7:00. They must leave the home with no food on their face or clothes.
A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.
They must clean up after their sick children at 2:00 a.m. And then spend the remainder of the day tending to that child and waiting on them hand and foot until they are better.
They must have a loving, age appropriate reply to, "You're not the boss of me".
The kids vote them off the island based on performance.
The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.
After you get done laughing, send this to as many females as you think will get a kick out of it and as many men as you think can handle it.
Hey moms,
I had fun reading it, I know you will too..
THE NEXT SURVIVOR SERIES
(For those that don’t know about the popular TV show – SURVIVOR, read it here)
Six married men will be dropped on an island with one car and 3 kids each for six weeks.
Each kid will play two sports and either take music or dance classes.
There is no fast food.
Each man must take care of his 3 kids; keep his assigned house clean, correct all homework, complete science projects, cook, do laundry, and pay a list of "pretend" bills with not enough money.
In addition, each man will have to budget in money for groceries each week.
Each man must remember the birthdays of all their friends and relatives, and send cards out on time.
Each man must also take each child to a doctor's appointment, a dentist appointment and a hair cut appointment. He must make one unscheduled and inconvenient visit per child to the Urgent Care (weekend, evening, on a holiday or right when they 're about to leave for vacation).
He must also make cookies or cupcakes for a social function.
Each man will be responsible for decorating his own assigned house, planting flowers outside and keeping it presentable at all times.
The men will only have access to television when the kids are asleep and all chores are done.
Each father will be required to know all of the words to every stupid song that comes on TV and the name of each and every character on cartoons.
Each man will have to make an Indian hut model with six toothpicks, a tortilla and one marker; and get a 4 year old to eat a serving of peas.
Each man must adorn himself with jewelry, wear uncomfortable yet stylish shoes, keep their nails polished and eyebrows groomed.
The men must try to get through each day without snot, spit-up or barf on their clothing.
During one of the six weeks, the men will have to endure severe abdominal cramps, back aches, and have extreme, unexplained mood swings but never once complain or slow down from other duties.
They must try to explain what a tampon is for when the 6-yr old boy finds it in the purse.
They must attend weekly school meetings, church, and find time at least once to spend the afternoon at the park or a similar setting.
He will need to read a book to the children each night without falling asleep, and then feed them, dress them, brush their teeth and comb their hair each morning by 7:00. They must leave the home with no food on their face or clothes.
A test will be given at the end of the six weeks, and each father will be required to know all of the following information: each child's birthday, height, weight, shoe size, clothes size and doctor's name. Also the child's weight at birth, length, time of birth, and length of labor, each child's favorite color, middle name, favorite snack, favorite song, favorite drink, favorite toy, biggest fear and what they want to be when they grow up.
They must clean up after their sick children at 2:00 a.m. And then spend the remainder of the day tending to that child and waiting on them hand and foot until they are better.
They must have a loving, age appropriate reply to, "You're not the boss of me".
The kids vote them off the island based on performance.
The last man wins only if...he still has enough energy to be intimate with his spouse at a moment's notice.
After you get done laughing, send this to as many females as you think will get a kick out of it and as many men as you think can handle it.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Preparing for school
This post is by Kodi's Mom of Kodimeow Kronicles
Last week of September and still only a handful of posts for theme of the month?! Come on guys, if you don't remember your first day of school surely you remember you kids'?
I remember my kid's first day with crystal clarity...as if it was only the day before.
Ahem. It really was the day before yesterday. My son is a week away from 2, and we started his daycare/school/pre-school/whatever-you-want-to-call-it this week. And this is one of the worst weeks of my life. The only consolation is after the initial tears have been wiped away, he ends up having a whole lot of fun. I thought I'd share my experience of what I did to help with the transition.
(Please don't take this as tips or advice - for I haven't seen results of any of this working so far. As of today he cries, even as we are getting ready for school.)
Kodi is a shy kid. In group settings, he prefers to cling to me and observe for a long time, before participating. He does not like crowds, and does a whole lot better in one-on-one interactions. With familiar faces, he is somewhat at ease.
Keeping that in mind, I thought making the environment familiar to him would help him majorly.
1. Even before we had picked on the school, we took him on a tour. There were different family members we wanted to show the school to, and each time we went, we took Kodi along. One of those times, the class was doing water play outside, and they welcomed him to join. He was thrilled and had no problems stepping in and playing. (yes, yes, only because we were right there in his sight!)
2. When we did finalize on the school, there were forms to be picked up and dropped off, and each time, I made the extra drive home to pick him up and take him with me. I took him to his classroom and he'd look longingly at the toys there and itched to go play.
3. A week or so before the start date, I took him to meet with his teacher. One hello from her and he turned the other way! But at least she was no longer a stranger. At that time, the classroom was empty and with permission, he went in and played to his heart content. Well not quite, I picked him up just as he was having fun, so he would want to come back.
4. Later that week, we made use of the free observation sessions that the school offers. Typically parents pick this option before they select the school - so they can come in with their kid, stay for an hour and observe the classroom. We choose to do it as close to his start date as was possible, on two consecutive days and timed it to coincide with outdoor play time. Both sessions went well and we left on a positive note, with Kodi refusing to come back home with me.
5. During the observation sessions, the teachers talked to me in detail and asked several questions about Kodi to get to know him better. It was good to know that they took the effort. A lot of my initial doubts were cleared, and whether it helped Kodi or not, it helped me big time!
6. At my request and after the first day's progress, we hashed out a plan to let him go only for 2 hours the first week. Based on how this week goes, we plan to increase it to one hour at a time...include lunch one day, include naptime the next and so on till he's fairly comfortable going the whole day. As of now, he is there for a little over two hours, does not eat any meals there, except for a snack, and does not stay for naptime.
7. Beyond this, school featured regularly in all the stories we told him. And we tried to paint a very luring picture.
8. I am sure reading appropriate books would have helped too - but we didn't try that - he is in a I-don't-care-for-books phase.
Added: Can't believe I forgot to add these!
9. Based on the strong recommendation from Tharini, we started homeopathy for Kodi. Just to give a boost to his immunity to fight those ball of germs that will come at him!
10. We also requested his grandma to come for a visit, since having her at home for at least a month would make it possible for him to go only a few hours a day.
11. And last, but most importantly, I blogged! Post after post about school - and the support, cheers and comfort I got from moms (and non-moms!) from everywhere was so touching. I think this was more to prep me than Kodi :D
So that's it! We don't know how long the crying period will last - or if any of this helps him at all - but I had to do whatever was within my bounds. And yes, I know it is a matter of time before I come back here to whine that he's picked school over me :)
Now over to you - either in comments or in separate posts, what did you do to prep your kid (and yourself!) for first day?
Last week of September and still only a handful of posts for theme of the month?! Come on guys, if you don't remember your first day of school surely you remember you kids'?
I remember my kid's first day with crystal clarity...as if it was only the day before.
Ahem. It really was the day before yesterday. My son is a week away from 2, and we started his daycare/school/pre-school/whatever-you-want-to-call-it this week. And this is one of the worst weeks of my life. The only consolation is after the initial tears have been wiped away, he ends up having a whole lot of fun. I thought I'd share my experience of what I did to help with the transition.
(Please don't take this as tips or advice - for I haven't seen results of any of this working so far. As of today he cries, even as we are getting ready for school.)
Kodi is a shy kid. In group settings, he prefers to cling to me and observe for a long time, before participating. He does not like crowds, and does a whole lot better in one-on-one interactions. With familiar faces, he is somewhat at ease.
Keeping that in mind, I thought making the environment familiar to him would help him majorly.
1. Even before we had picked on the school, we took him on a tour. There were different family members we wanted to show the school to, and each time we went, we took Kodi along. One of those times, the class was doing water play outside, and they welcomed him to join. He was thrilled and had no problems stepping in and playing. (yes, yes, only because we were right there in his sight!)
2. When we did finalize on the school, there were forms to be picked up and dropped off, and each time, I made the extra drive home to pick him up and take him with me. I took him to his classroom and he'd look longingly at the toys there and itched to go play.
3. A week or so before the start date, I took him to meet with his teacher. One hello from her and he turned the other way! But at least she was no longer a stranger. At that time, the classroom was empty and with permission, he went in and played to his heart content. Well not quite, I picked him up just as he was having fun, so he would want to come back.
4. Later that week, we made use of the free observation sessions that the school offers. Typically parents pick this option before they select the school - so they can come in with their kid, stay for an hour and observe the classroom. We choose to do it as close to his start date as was possible, on two consecutive days and timed it to coincide with outdoor play time. Both sessions went well and we left on a positive note, with Kodi refusing to come back home with me.
5. During the observation sessions, the teachers talked to me in detail and asked several questions about Kodi to get to know him better. It was good to know that they took the effort. A lot of my initial doubts were cleared, and whether it helped Kodi or not, it helped me big time!
6. At my request and after the first day's progress, we hashed out a plan to let him go only for 2 hours the first week. Based on how this week goes, we plan to increase it to one hour at a time...include lunch one day, include naptime the next and so on till he's fairly comfortable going the whole day. As of now, he is there for a little over two hours, does not eat any meals there, except for a snack, and does not stay for naptime.
7. Beyond this, school featured regularly in all the stories we told him. And we tried to paint a very luring picture.
8. I am sure reading appropriate books would have helped too - but we didn't try that - he is in a I-don't-care-for-books phase.
Added: Can't believe I forgot to add these!
9. Based on the strong recommendation from Tharini, we started homeopathy for Kodi. Just to give a boost to his immunity to fight those ball of germs that will come at him!
10. We also requested his grandma to come for a visit, since having her at home for at least a month would make it possible for him to go only a few hours a day.
11. And last, but most importantly, I blogged! Post after post about school - and the support, cheers and comfort I got from moms (and non-moms!) from everywhere was so touching. I think this was more to prep me than Kodi :D
So that's it! We don't know how long the crying period will last - or if any of this helps him at all - but I had to do whatever was within my bounds. And yes, I know it is a matter of time before I come back here to whine that he's picked school over me :)
Now over to you - either in comments or in separate posts, what did you do to prep your kid (and yourself!) for first day?
Monday, September 24, 2007
Childhood Eczema?
Hi, everyone.
How're the school runs going?
I've been thinking of bringing up this topic on the club, as perhaps some nice Mum or the other here may have experience with childhood eczema, seeing that it's becoming so common. Have any of you mums out there have children/infants with eczema?
My 1 year old has atopic dermatitis (=atopic eczema) and I'm wondering when it'll get better :-(. I use the emollients and steroid creams. (And lots of prayers, which might indicate my desperation). In spite of these, there isn't much change in her condition at 1 year. It's about the same as it was at 5 months of age. I had an impression that it would improve as she got older..... but she's still as scratchy as ever. She can't live outside babygro's (full baby suits) because she literally mutilates herself. If my watchful eyes stray from her for longer than a few minutes, I return to a bloodied arm or leg (she scratches herself till she bleeds). The mitts/socks on her hands are useless now because she can pull anything off.
If any of you have experience with a child with eczema, would you share your experience(s) about it? What meds/preparations did you find most useful and not? When did the eczema start and when did it get better? Did anyone try dietary modifications or not? Any tips you can share? And most importantly, did steroid use leave the child with any side effects like discoloured/pigmented skin? I admit that it's the steroid ointment use which has me scared the most. I've been reassured by my dermatologist that at that small dose, she won't come to any harm, but I still worry.
I would appreciate it very much and look forward to hearing from you.
[Now if nobody here has dealt with eczema, you're one lucky bunch :-)]
How're the school runs going?
I've been thinking of bringing up this topic on the club, as perhaps some nice Mum or the other here may have experience with childhood eczema, seeing that it's becoming so common. Have any of you mums out there have children/infants with eczema?
My 1 year old has atopic dermatitis (=atopic eczema) and I'm wondering when it'll get better :-(. I use the emollients and steroid creams. (And lots of prayers, which might indicate my desperation). In spite of these, there isn't much change in her condition at 1 year. It's about the same as it was at 5 months of age. I had an impression that it would improve as she got older..... but she's still as scratchy as ever. She can't live outside babygro's (full baby suits) because she literally mutilates herself. If my watchful eyes stray from her for longer than a few minutes, I return to a bloodied arm or leg (she scratches herself till she bleeds). The mitts/socks on her hands are useless now because she can pull anything off.
If any of you have experience with a child with eczema, would you share your experience(s) about it? What meds/preparations did you find most useful and not? When did the eczema start and when did it get better? Did anyone try dietary modifications or not? Any tips you can share? And most importantly, did steroid use leave the child with any side effects like discoloured/pigmented skin? I admit that it's the steroid ointment use which has me scared the most. I've been reassured by my dermatologist that at that small dose, she won't come to any harm, but I still worry.
I would appreciate it very much and look forward to hearing from you.
[Now if nobody here has dealt with eczema, you're one lucky bunch :-)]
Sunday, September 23, 2007
First Parents Night and some Art for School
A couple of days ago I went for my first Parents Night at little S’s daycare/pre-school. This was the first time I was going for such a thing. I had been to a Parents-Teachers meet before but that was more like a one-on-one.
This I had no idea about and D was not in town, so I went alone and was thus heavily influenced by solely my own views.
Apparently it was an introductory sort of an evening where the teacher discussed her intention and goals in life and also in her classroom. She gave us printed sheets, materials and even made us do hand on stuff like painting apples and cutting them up and discussing them !!!
Now before I go on my rant, let me tell you I am the kind of person who is not very comfortable with “change”. So I was very upset with this whole transition thing where S was moving on from her pre-school class to pre-K class. I was getting comfortable with her teachers when this announcement came and I was really sad that S had to move on from Ms. A’s class. I even wanted to cry on her last day…yes I am weird.
Now again S is not really supposed to go to a Pre-K class because she is a December born and all schools here have a September or October cut off so she cannot make it to Kindergarten next year. However her teacher(Ms. A) and me both thought that it is better if she moves on to Pre-K than Pre-School2 (an intermediate) class because there is more stuff done in Pre-K and she can benefit from that. That being the case she is the youngest in this class.
The teacher for her Pre-K is a young woman(Ms. K) just done with undergrad in Child Ed and as a result very enthu to put all her theoretical knowledge to work. In fact, too enthu I felt. In her discussion she kept stressing “how she will get the kids ready for Kindergarten” by next year and blah, blah, blah….At a point I told her that a kindergarten in a public school does not really expect a lot from the kids but she insisted that it did.
The thing I disliked is she went on to say that she will start giving out homework to these kids starting November. “Homework” at this age ??? But why ? Most of these kids spend at least 8 hours with her (this being a daycare) and I thing that is ample time for her to “get them ready for kindergarten”. Why give them homework ? I do make S practice her name etc. at home but nothing regular and it is more in a fun way, like she makes cards and signs her name on it and such stuff. Don’t you think Homework might not be a good idea at this age ?
This put me off. Next I noticed this young woman was too animated, not in the warm way but you know the kind who move around their hands daintily and make amazing faces while they talk. It is all very fine in many situations, but for a teacher for smal kids I prefer someone with a warm & kind smile and then you can flay your hands as much as long as you do not hold your fingers straight daintily.
I know I am being judgmental but hey come on I need to judge when it comes to my daughter’s teacher. I do not also want to dislike my daughter’s teacher. I want to be sad and misty eyed when my daughter moves on from this class. I want to like her teacher. Let me hope she turns out to be fine and her exuberant theoretical knowledge gives way for more love and tender care for these kids.
Ok she also made us do a family project which I grumbled about. The end result was nice though. All you artsy-crafty moms can try this out for your next project
The Me Board
For this “Me Board” you need the following
This I had no idea about and D was not in town, so I went alone and was thus heavily influenced by solely my own views.
Apparently it was an introductory sort of an evening where the teacher discussed her intention and goals in life and also in her classroom. She gave us printed sheets, materials and even made us do hand on stuff like painting apples and cutting them up and discussing them !!!
Now before I go on my rant, let me tell you I am the kind of person who is not very comfortable with “change”. So I was very upset with this whole transition thing where S was moving on from her pre-school class to pre-K class. I was getting comfortable with her teachers when this announcement came and I was really sad that S had to move on from Ms. A’s class. I even wanted to cry on her last day…yes I am weird.
Now again S is not really supposed to go to a Pre-K class because she is a December born and all schools here have a September or October cut off so she cannot make it to Kindergarten next year. However her teacher(Ms. A) and me both thought that it is better if she moves on to Pre-K than Pre-School2 (an intermediate) class because there is more stuff done in Pre-K and she can benefit from that. That being the case she is the youngest in this class.
The teacher for her Pre-K is a young woman(Ms. K) just done with undergrad in Child Ed and as a result very enthu to put all her theoretical knowledge to work. In fact, too enthu I felt. In her discussion she kept stressing “how she will get the kids ready for Kindergarten” by next year and blah, blah, blah….At a point I told her that a kindergarten in a public school does not really expect a lot from the kids but she insisted that it did.
The thing I disliked is she went on to say that she will start giving out homework to these kids starting November. “Homework” at this age ??? But why ? Most of these kids spend at least 8 hours with her (this being a daycare) and I thing that is ample time for her to “get them ready for kindergarten”. Why give them homework ? I do make S practice her name etc. at home but nothing regular and it is more in a fun way, like she makes cards and signs her name on it and such stuff. Don’t you think Homework might not be a good idea at this age ?
This put me off. Next I noticed this young woman was too animated, not in the warm way but you know the kind who move around their hands daintily and make amazing faces while they talk. It is all very fine in many situations, but for a teacher for smal kids I prefer someone with a warm & kind smile and then you can flay your hands as much as long as you do not hold your fingers straight daintily.
I know I am being judgmental but hey come on I need to judge when it comes to my daughter’s teacher. I do not also want to dislike my daughter’s teacher. I want to be sad and misty eyed when my daughter moves on from this class. I want to like her teacher. Let me hope she turns out to be fine and her exuberant theoretical knowledge gives way for more love and tender care for these kids.
Ok she also made us do a family project which I grumbled about. The end result was nice though. All you artsy-crafty moms can try this out for your next project
The Me Board
For this “Me Board” you need the following
- A posterboard
- Cardborad or posterboard to make cut outs of your kids hands and feet
- A paper plate to make the face
- Lots of pics and other stuff to glue on the posterboard
- Decorate the face with hair, googly eyes, beads etc.
- Paste the feet and hand cut out as shown
Friday, September 21, 2007
Memory Cards
[posted by Sheela at The Joy of My Life. Many thanks to Sandeepa for reminding me to post it at our DMC! ]
Concentration or Memory is a simple game that helps improve memory in children (and adults). There are several versions of this game. Some involve objects, but this here is for little Ana, with home-made cards.
The cards are laid out face down. Each player takes a turn and flips 2 cards at random. If the cards match, they get to keep the pair. If they don't, they put it back exactly where they flipped them. The memory part is that, they should try to remember which position had which card, so, that as the game progresses, the matching act becomes less of a random guess and more of a test of memory.
For Ana, who is 2 years old, the maximum number of cards I use at a time is 12 - which involve 6 pairs, with each pair having a particular picture she easily recognizes and can match without any shred of doubt.
These are home-made cards, so, when I detect some wear, I make new ones. They are not as sturdy as the store-bought laminated cards, and the pictures are not as pretty and colorful. But, it serves the purpose :-)
Supplies I used: card stock paper, paper cutter, rubber stamps, rubber stamp ink pad, some construction paper and dye-cut punch, pinking shears, glue stick.
We don't use color cartridges in our printer, so, I didn't try to design graphics on my computer and print them out. At some point, I would like to print out just the black&white outline and color them, rather than using rubber stamps.
But, the reason I chose to use rubber stamps is so that I can make the cards with Ana. She likes to help me make things, even if she has no clue what I am making. "Let's make some memory cards, Ana" is all I had to say the first time, and when she saw me gather my supplies and settle down, she faithfully sat next to me, observing for a while, then asking to try and glue the flowers at the back and so on... Of course, I always go back and "adjust" it so it looks more uniform.
She is fascinated by the pinking shears and knows it as "Amma's soosuss" (scissors) and has her own plastic scissors with which she tries to clip her hair, her toys and such, of course, without success as it is just toy scissors.
And, while I try to rubber stamp her memory cards as uniformly as I can, she has a blast stamping on her "art" notebook. Her preferred ink color is the turquoise blue, for some reason!
Anyway, as she gets older, I hope to have fun having her design her own cards, and more of them - I can't wait to play with about 50 cards all laid out and trying to match them from memory with Ana...
D and I play with Ana. We don't really insist on turns, as sometimes Ana is so carried away with flipping that she does manage to get all the pairs. This can be played like Solitaire, so, if we can encourage her to get into this game, we could let her play on her own down the road and enjoy the "free time" we get meanwhile ;-)
Concentration or Memory is a simple game that helps improve memory in children (and adults). There are several versions of this game. Some involve objects, but this here is for little Ana, with home-made cards.
The cards are laid out face down. Each player takes a turn and flips 2 cards at random. If the cards match, they get to keep the pair. If they don't, they put it back exactly where they flipped them. The memory part is that, they should try to remember which position had which card, so, that as the game progresses, the matching act becomes less of a random guess and more of a test of memory.
For Ana, who is 2 years old, the maximum number of cards I use at a time is 12 - which involve 6 pairs, with each pair having a particular picture she easily recognizes and can match without any shred of doubt.
These are home-made cards, so, when I detect some wear, I make new ones. They are not as sturdy as the store-bought laminated cards, and the pictures are not as pretty and colorful. But, it serves the purpose :-)
Supplies I used: card stock paper, paper cutter, rubber stamps, rubber stamp ink pad, some construction paper and dye-cut punch, pinking shears, glue stick.
We don't use color cartridges in our printer, so, I didn't try to design graphics on my computer and print them out. At some point, I would like to print out just the black&white outline and color them, rather than using rubber stamps.
But, the reason I chose to use rubber stamps is so that I can make the cards with Ana. She likes to help me make things, even if she has no clue what I am making. "Let's make some memory cards, Ana" is all I had to say the first time, and when she saw me gather my supplies and settle down, she faithfully sat next to me, observing for a while, then asking to try and glue the flowers at the back and so on... Of course, I always go back and "adjust" it so it looks more uniform.
She is fascinated by the pinking shears and knows it as "Amma's soosuss" (scissors) and has her own plastic scissors with which she tries to clip her hair, her toys and such, of course, without success as it is just toy scissors.
And, while I try to rubber stamp her memory cards as uniformly as I can, she has a blast stamping on her "art" notebook. Her preferred ink color is the turquoise blue, for some reason!
Anyway, as she gets older, I hope to have fun having her design her own cards, and more of them - I can't wait to play with about 50 cards all laid out and trying to match them from memory with Ana...
D and I play with Ana. We don't really insist on turns, as sometimes Ana is so carried away with flipping that she does manage to get all the pairs. This can be played like Solitaire, so, if we can encourage her to get into this game, we could let her play on her own down the road and enjoy the "free time" we get meanwhile ;-)
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Krazy Kays & their Knack for Krazy Knicks
Heh! Couldn't think of a "kornier" title :D
[Posted by CeeKay at My Two Cents Too]
* Cheeni: Sugar
[Posted by CeeKay at My Two Cents Too]
Note: I had so much fun writing this post that I decided to "pollute" the club-space with it too :D
I thought I was tagged by someone to list all the silly (and embarrassing, in our case) nick names that we have given to our kids but patrolled the blog sphere up and down three times and still couldn't find the "tagger". So I am taking up the tag on my own because I just loved the idea (of publicly embarrassing my children)!! But if there is someone who indeed tagged me for this, please own up and appropriate credits shall be given!
I thought I was tagged by someone to list all the silly (and embarrassing, in our case) nick names that we have given to our kids but patrolled the blog sphere up and down three times and still couldn't find the "tagger". So I am taking up the tag on my own because I just loved the idea (of publicly embarrassing my children)!! But if there is someone who indeed tagged me for this, please own up and appropriate credits shall be given!
Mitthi (translated to Punjabi, means "sweet") and Ninni (means "sleep" in kidspeak and can be taken as a twisted form of "naani" meaning "little" in Gujarati) are their “official” nick names. Simple, sweet and harmless. Then I also call S “Sweetie Mitthi Pie” and Mitthi Mouse while Ninni gets called by the nick "Cheeni* Ninni Pie" and Ninni The Pooh (created by big sis). Their Kaka (dad's bro) calls them “Dudu” and dadi has reserved the name “Ghappoodi” :D
* Cheeni: Sugar
Other nick names I use for them are – “Koochie koo” and Chikoo which has now turned into “Chika Mika Pika”. Then there is Sweetums, Jhagdoo (someone who fights a lot), Jhagdoo-Magdoo (you can see my penchant for rhyming here, can’t you? :D Another rarely used but embarrassing name is “Susu-Potty Baba” which came from the fact that this is what they did most of the time during the first three months of their life :P The credit goes to their dad.
Now on to the reeeally embarrassing nick names. There is a story behind them so I will narrate it first. Without it, those nicks just won’t make sense. When we were newly married, one day I called J “Sadela Gubrela” (Rotten beetle). Now J has a knack for playing with words. He can transform the sweetest, most innocent word into something wacky and funny in an instant. So pat came the reply “Sadeli Goo Bhareli”. To those unfamiliar with the middle classy word, it means poop (literally) and the last word means “full of” in Gujarati. So “sadela Gubrela” became “Sadela Goo Bharela” and then we applied this nick name to S (Poor, poor kid! Now you understand why I am saving for her therapy?) She is a good sport and didn’t throw a fit when we explained the meaning to her when she was old enough to understand. When M came home from the hospital, S very generously decided to share that nick name with her. She said she will keep the first part (“Sadeli") for herself, and generously hand over the second part (Goo Bhareli) to her little sis. Only, she mistakenly said “Goo Dhareli” instead of “Goo Bhareli" thanks to her broken Hindi. Now, I might not have the knack for witty/wacky names, but I do have a knack for translating ones that don’t have an apparent meaning. So I translated the second one as “Sitting like a poop” ( I know, I know – this post shouldn’t even have seen the light of the day) as “Dhareli” in Gujarati can be loosely translated to “dumped” in some instances. So now we have a Goo Bhareli and a Goo Dhareli in our house. And S has now generously donated “Sadeli/Sadela” to her mom and dad.
Remind me to start a savings account for M’s therapy too, will you?
Now on to the reeeally embarrassing nick names. There is a story behind them so I will narrate it first. Without it, those nicks just won’t make sense. When we were newly married, one day I called J “Sadela Gubrela” (Rotten beetle). Now J has a knack for playing with words. He can transform the sweetest, most innocent word into something wacky and funny in an instant. So pat came the reply “Sadeli Goo Bhareli”. To those unfamiliar with the middle classy word, it means poop (literally) and the last word means “full of” in Gujarati. So “sadela Gubrela” became “Sadela Goo Bharela” and then we applied this nick name to S (Poor, poor kid! Now you understand why I am saving for her therapy?) She is a good sport and didn’t throw a fit when we explained the meaning to her when she was old enough to understand. When M came home from the hospital, S very generously decided to share that nick name with her. She said she will keep the first part (“Sadeli") for herself, and generously hand over the second part (Goo Bhareli) to her little sis. Only, she mistakenly said “Goo Dhareli” instead of “Goo Bhareli" thanks to her broken Hindi. Now, I might not have the knack for witty/wacky names, but I do have a knack for translating ones that don’t have an apparent meaning. So I translated the second one as “Sitting like a poop” ( I know, I know – this post shouldn’t even have seen the light of the day) as “Dhareli” in Gujarati can be loosely translated to “dumped” in some instances. So now we have a Goo Bhareli and a Goo Dhareli in our house. And S has now generously donated “Sadeli/Sadela” to her mom and dad.
Remind me to start a savings account for M’s therapy too, will you?
Edited to add: S has made up a song with the most embarrassing nick name for M. It goes like this -
Ninni, Ninni, Bahut Sadeli
Also known as Goo Dhareli
(Yup! She got the genes!!!)
Oh, and I tag all the moms (and dads, if any) in this club who haven't taken up this tag already, and who don't mind embarrassing their kids publicly :D
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