Most of you must have seen this post I added when I found out about the play date.
– – –
(2)
So once the songs were over. It was time for the activity.
Simple coloring. Yeah okay. Well simple coloring into something fun when halfway through the speaker and manager of the program came and started cutting through the papers of each kid.
That’s when I realized the picture given was of a shark! In water. With corals around them. Oh. And they had cut the teeth out. Clever!
Then they glued the colored papers to a plain sheet and voila! You have a shark coming at ya! Aaaa 🦈
Btw, my daughter LOVES coloring. And you can see what she had done. Ah, the master piece.
“Baita you can choose more colors. It will look better.”
“No mama, I only want red.”
Yeah coz you can’t take from the other kids.
“Aaira baita you should take at leeaast two. Make it look colorful.”
“Okay I’ll take pink.”
Gah, okay!
Also, side note: I got scolded by my friend to leave her alone. Stop being a typical mom who’s constantly on her child. Oops 😁 yeah sorry.
Look at the cuttteee shark themed photo booth they had!
And those scrumptious (after party) cupcakes 😋 but they were so preeetty 😍
Overall it was a lovely experience.
My daughter loved it. I loved it.
Can’t wait for the next ones.
Highly recommended ❤
#activity#activities#activitytime#children#involved#babymama
The process of making it was simple.
I usually try using what is available to me.
A textured colored sheet, not even pressed straight, but we used it anyway.
A page from a copy cut into thin strips.
2 straws cut into small pieces, no they were not measured 🙄
We initially used UHU glue stick. But then I had to add lots of it, and later on other pieces even the liquid glue for the straw pieces to stick.
You can see the interest was there.
She was very happy to keep all the small straw pieces in one place and paste the strips as I was telling her to do (of course she got bored halfway and so baby mama did the rest).
Very happy to show her Dado buttt…. the straw pieces 😥
Children are excited when they try something new and so she was a wee bit faster and pop came one out, then another, then another.
We packed it all for now.
Tonight I’ll fix it for her.
#activity#activities#activitytime#children#involved#babymama
Little hands making roti
My daughter, like all children, loves to play with aata. She hears something along the lines “roti ban jae gi” and comes running to me.
“Mama I’ve something to say. In your ears”
(Her words: mama ek bat he. Kan men”)
“Jee baita I know”
“Please give me aata”
So while playing with it and making all sorts of mess. One day she rolled it into a long and thin strip, then rolled the strip around as if for a paratha, and came to me with an almost flat dough ball. I was surprised and taught her how to flatten the ball for a paratha. She learnt it right away!! Masha Allah 😍
Then she went to her Dado and Dado taught her to make a bird out of it! A bird! I saw it, it was a bird. Someday Ima show you guys too.
We sometimes end up cooking her rotis, if she hasn’t rubbed it everywhere 😐
She loves to share the little pieces.
Temporary car track
Tbh, as soon as she was done with the track once, she looked up at me.
I smiled down at her, expecting something along the lines
“Mama, thank you so much. It’s so much fun! Please make this for me everyday!!”
❤
(Of course an exaggeration. I was proud of myself and patting my own back mentally. What can ya say!)
Nay! She only said:
“Ab?”
💔
“What do you mean now what? That’s the game. That’s the activity. You keep going on and on with your cars and animals.”
“Mhmm”, she respectfully sent me ‘Meh’ vibes. *Yeah Mom I’m not impressed. Come up with something better* 🤷🏻♀️
The good news is ⛅ even if it’s for a little time, (duration of play has increased though) she still wants to play the game/do the activity every now and then.
– – –
I first used paper tape and board marker.
We ran out of tape 😂
So I tried it on scotch tape. As you can see it came off of the scotch tape with a little rub of my finger. And also with the car wheels or even if a kid walked over the markings.
So there was no point of that. Either waste lots and lots of paper tape ORRRR simply draw the arrows/track directly on the floor and let it rub or fade away as my child won’t ever play for long anyway.
PS: please try a dot first on the floor and check if the spot is coming off easily with a wipe or wet tissue. In my case plain tissue worked just as well.
#activity#activities#activitytime#mychildandme#children#involved
Dinner idea for 8,9 month old
Soak rice and red lentils while you cook chopped carrot.
Once carrot is done add lentil and rice and cook in chicken stock.
You can make puree or cook a soft dish and mash between your fingers when you feed each bite or give small portions in spoon.
Today I made this with a twist:
Cubed potatoes and carrots cooked first slightly.
Then added tomato puree (or add chopped tomato without skin) and soaked rice.
Salt and cumin powder.
Cooked a soft dish.
It was different and flavorful.
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#babyfoodideas#babyfood#recipes#dinnerideas#lunchideas#ricebowl
There are 3 ways to make this:
1) Slightly dry roast oats till there’s a light change in color then go for next step.
2) Skip roasting. Cook oats completely in milk with sugar just enough to make it sweet. First on high then on low.
3) Cook a little in water first then add desired amount of milk with sugar.
My parents like to roast. I don’t like it for babies. No reason really.
I do step 3 coz that’s how my MIL used to make for baby number 1 so 🤷🏻♀️
The more you cook it on medium to low, the more it’ll become creamy.
Don’t overcook and you’ll have a runny/ thin oatmeal.
Leave it a little runny as it will thicken once it’s off the heat.
💪I make it step 3 and sometimes step 1 as well. I love oatmeal.
💪They’re a really good source of energy and nutrition. Especially for breastfeeding mothers.
💪Also helps in weight loss while giving you all that nutrition.
– – –
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#babyfoodideas #babyfood #oats
My first born made me a mother and my second born gave me the feeling of becoming one.
I’m not sure how many of you can relate to this feeling of being a first time mom and not being it ❔
I was very happy and enjoyed every bit of it (minus the sleepless nights and constant long feeding sessions OF COURSE) but I didn’t own the mamta, the motherhood. I was shy of talking about research. I was shy of talking about my mental health (for the obvious stigma around it). I was shy of taking a decision for her.
I became a people-pleaser and thought it would be rude to surpass anyone who I could tell was genuinely caring towards my child.
I would not be sure of my opinions.
Small things I will always remember:
My MIL’s sister giving me an actual nudge on my shoulder saying, “You go with them. We’ll take care of her. Hum hen na (We are here).” I was scared of leaving my daughter behind for an hour to go get some stationary items when there were other family members at home! I’ve repeated this seemingly little reassurance many times because it means that much.
My daughter falling extremely sick and doctors saying “it’s normal”. Yea, okay. I wanted them to give her a medicine anyway (lack of right medication). I went to another doctor on day 3. Still no proper medicine. I KNEW what to do. BUT I didn’t have the guts to put a foot down and GO for it. Day 5 and no medicine and there was blood. I know it’s normal. I knew it’s normal. But that feeling of ME not trusting my motherhood… I’ll never forget.
My second child made me a stronger person. I knew I was THE MOM. I respected and loved myself, my research, my opinions. In turn giving more to others. To my children.
– – –
It took me a lot of effort and struggle to realize that being a conscious mom doesn’t mean you’ll always be right. It means being a human who loves her babies the most. Full stop.
It means taking a decision you’ll be half sure about or maybe fight for, and it’ll turn out to be the best thing. It means being 100% sure of something, for it to be a disaster.
It’s okay. It’s all okay💗
Trust yourself. Love yourself🤗
Talk to someone who’s genuine to YOU.
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Positive Parenting Workshop
The whole workshop revolved around….? You guessed it:
Positivity. And love. And respect.
We might have heard most of these things from our elders but to properly go through it all in a systematic way and know what goes on in a child’s brain, was very different.
Psychology is a fun subject and vastly helpful.
– – –
The psychologist explained that children under 7 do not have a very developed logical brain and it might seem like a selfish stage. It’s okay. We don’t have to force them to let go of their identity and self love. This is the stage where we let them be.
Question answer session in between the workshop was very helpful as well.
A relaxed home environment means proper nurturing and upbringing = work on having positive relationships.
The more we focus on loving and respecting them unconditionally, the better the result = they will return to us in future what we give them now.
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#positiveparenting#parentingworkshop#mychildandme
Baby Oats
As your baby gets used to of flavors and new tastes, you can play around even more!
1) Dry roast oats till fragrant.
2) Add a little bit of water to soften.
3) Add prepared lentil (without spice).
4) If your lentil is not runny, add more water.
5) Simmer and let it cook till desired consistency.
Adjust seasoning.
I love this recipe. Even if my child doesn’t 😐😥
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Toddler activity 3 in 1.
1. Cutting.
2. Painting.
3. Gluing.
Kid safe scissors.
Used paper.
Paint and brush.
Glue.
We basically started off by teaching her use of fingers to hold the scissors.
“What are we doing?”
“This is qaaainchiii!” Yup. We’re doing qainchi.
I asked her to cut random sizes. Once done, she cut a few into smaller pieces.
Then she painted a few pieces with her mamu.
Once dry, she applied glue on one side and pasted on the newspaper.
I don’t have a picture of that. Sorry! Next time we do it, I’ll surely add it.
#activity#activities#activitytime#children#scissors#paperscissor
1. This is for personal use so meh 🤷🏻♀️
2. My brother made it thinking it’s for my daughter so why make it fancy (I kinda told him not to put too much effort)
So the idea behind this is encouraging your child for good behavior. And discouraging bad behavior.
For every good act, your child gets a smiley face/star.
For every bad behavior, a sad face/circle.
Now there are 2 main points to keep in mind:
1. Your child not listening to your “orders” isn’t counted as bad behavior 😉
Example:
“Pick up your toys”
“Mama, not right now.”/ “I dont want to, Mama.”/ “Aww why do I have to. Can’t you?”
Here you can teach them better communication. But this isn’t bad behavior.
It’s counted as bad behavior when you have taught your child something, let’s say manners, and they deliberately act otherwise.
Example:
Throwing food DESPITE reminders.
Hitting anyone deliberately (not flailing arms).
2. Bad behavior doesn’t take away from the good behavior! (Unless your child is strong willed 😂)
Every 10 stars would mean your child gets a reward. Please keep it small and simple: candy, stationary item you already had to buy, cook their favourite meal etc.
For every 5 sad faces, I take away 1 star WHEN the tantrums aren’t stopping. As soon as they were in control, good and bad behaviors were treated separately.
#mychildandme #activity #tantrums #goodbehavior #badbehavior
Well there was only one MAJOR issue. I used the wrong glue. Little pieces kept coming off.
So I tried using a stronger one or even double the amount. It seemed to work.
Sewing activity. Hand control.
We under estimated the length of thread 😀
Going through and taking it back out both were easy and super fun.
She had to be steady with her hand movements and constantly change sides to know which direction to follow.
If it was me I would push the thread through one piece at a time.
Nope! Not my little one. She went through as many as she could in one go. Then slowly pulled the thread out and did the same for the next ones as well.
Okay! As long as the kid is playing, having fun and learning… something!
#activity #activities #activitytime #children #glue #gluing #sewing
Sand Art Activity
So a dear friend of mine @binteyaseen95 sent this activity for my kid and my sister’s.
*Warning*
Repition of a few words many times.
This is such a fun activity. A seemingly plain, sticking-colorful-sand-on-sticky-paper, activity. But it gets your kid’s full focus on. They are so intrigued by the sand and the sticky paper, the whole process and colors.
What happens is you have to take off the sticker of each part, under it is a thin layer of sticky glue. At some places like picture number 7 you’ll see that the glue wasn’t sticky enough and so the while sand didn’t stick properly.
Also if we followed the image on the top left corner, the colors given weren’t enough to complete the drawing. Otherwise it was totally okay making it your own.
The excess sand can be rubbed off easily.
Aaira enjoyed and it wasn’t AS messy as I was expecting it to. Maybe I had a disaster in mind? Idk. I had put a newspaper under it.
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#sandart#sandartactivity#colorfulsand#kidsactivities
It’s so many feelings all at once.
You’re very happy. But really tired all the time.
You love playing with your kid but you want a break too.
You want to do the best you can but you do enjoy help from around.
You love the laughs and smiles and giggles and jokes and hugs and kisses and cute communications but sometimes, “A little silence please? I’m really unwell, honey.”
You are proud of them when they go around the house by themselves without calling out your name but that’s scary too “Why is it so silent?!”
You are also proud of yourself for changing so many things you thought you’d never, but it’s like they’ll copy ANYTHING you say or do. So you ALWAYS have to be careful.
You feel good about making the right decisions for your kid but there’s always some self doubt. Could you do it any better?
There are people who’ll uplift you and make you feel great as a parent. And there are also people who’ll make their life motto to tell you or, if not you, then surely all those around you, that basically, you suck at parenting!
Sometimes you can happily defend yourself or even completely ignore them. But sometimes these things will get to you and you’ll start questioning yourself.
It’s so many things to think about. There’s so much to do, not do, learn, change, teach, preach… God!!!
…… sigh……
What I’ve learnt in my little experience.. is to surround myself with people I trust.
People who won’t lie to me just coz they know me.
People who won’t say something cheesy just to hurt me.
But people who I can trust with the truth. Who trust me with my decisions but can openly call me out when I’m wrong.
They can guide me and still support me if I decide to go in the opposite direction.
That helps.
Oh no. It doesn’t solve the overwhelming-ness 😊
It just makes it easier. Hmm a lot easier.
#parenting #challenge #parentingishard #overwhelmed #overwhelmedmom #anxiety #ppd #anxiousparent #anxiousmom #emotions #feelings
This is just an introduction to vegetables for my little baby.
I peeled half a carrot, cut into small pieces, boiled it until the water dried out. Pressed a little between my fingers and gave them to her.
You can also cook them in oats or rice. Something she’ll be used to already and will also add a new flavor to an existing dish for your baby.
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#babyfood #babyfoodideas #mylittlekitchen #homecooking
STEM based learning activity.
When Aaira wasn’t even a year old, now 4 Masha Allah, we realized she found educational toys interesting. So we bought puzzles, alphabets, fruits, shapes. Don’t worry there were fun toys too 😀
S-Science
T-Technology
E-Engineering
M-Mathematics
This set includes puzzles of subtraction, addition, counting, and 3 sets of numbers.
We first sorted them into 3 sets.
• Addition, subtraction sets for later.
• Number sets.
• Plain counting picture set.
She already knows her numbers. Meaning she can READ them. 1-10 almost perfectly (still confuses between 6 and 9) and with help till 19.
So counting seemed fun. Joining puzzles was also fun. She loves laying everything out to “show” her work 😎
I’m planning to get more of their sets.
#thelearningjourneyinternational have so many options to choose from.
We have a puzzle set for “Clock and Time”. But I guess we bought it TOO EARLY for her age 😁😁 so it’s been sitting in the cupboard since 1 year lol
For me, this is homeschooling. How do you teach your kids at home?
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The first word I said was at 9 months old when my mom put me on the bed “gira dia” meaning somewhat like “you threw me”!
Needless to say, my daughter was bound to be a talker 😂
Parents sometimes worry about helping their babies/toddlers talk.
Some tips I found helpful were:
☆Talk TO your child starting as early as 3-6 months.
☆Hold items in hand and show to your baby and clearly say their names.
☆Don’t talk fast. Talk slowly.
☆Use baby phrases. NOT slang lol water is water, not “mammam” (sometimes to sound cute it’s okay 😂)
☆Read! Read! Read! Read to your child especially from visual books.
☆Buy educational toys.
☆Play games by using words like “taaa/peekaboo”.
☆Ask questions like “kahan he/where is” and look for something.
☆When your child responds with babble or his own language, copy and respond in the same manner.
☆For toddlers after 1 year, show them trees, cars, colors, shapes, people, etc and point at them until they have attention and focus on them then describe it out loud in simple small phrases.
Do you have other simple tips? I’d like to know 😊
– – –
This post is in collaboration with my lovely fellows. Check out what they have to say:
@saba_nokhaiz
@earem__
@mashatah18
@quirkymummyblog
What do you think my friend @thecoachingedgeforparents 😊😊
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#parentingtips#toddlertalk#babytalk#babybooks#visualbooks
Nope. Nay nay! 😐
– – –
Let’s start small and make a list of things I think new parents should be clear about and have it decided. FOR THEMSELVES.
•What option of feeding would you like: ebf(exclusive breast feeding)/combination/formula. And reasons for your choice. Also being open if something doesn’t work as planned.
•Would you prefer to buy only necessary items and save on money (baby cot, carry nest, stroller etc) or everything that can make life easier even if it costs.
•Go for only science based advices or elderly experience or a mix of both. Doc says no salt sugar till 1 year. Family experience says kids don’t like food taste. Do your research.
•Being confident that baby weight or milestone schedule don’t define health. Check with your paed on every visit for confirmation and relax!
•Help babies fall asleep on their own. Don’t feed them to sleep or pat them etc. It becomes habit not easy to break. Or, do it if you want to.
🤗
MUST REMEMBER:
~Food before 1 is just for fun. If your child doesn’t like to eat, stop force feeding. If your child likes to eat, don’t say no that’s it 😛
~Pls vaccinate your kids.
~Pls be firm and don’t let everybody touch/kiss baby face.
~Have a one-on-one communication with partner about parenting. You both should be involved and trust each other’s parenting even if you disagree.
~It’s okay to make mistakes. Own it. Don’t let anyone trample over you.
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#newmomstruggles #thingstodoformoms
I have been so occupied because of baby number 2 always clinging to me and of course house chores or some Ramazan prep, that for the last couple of MONTHS I hadn’t been doing a proper activity time with Aaira 😔
I randomly wrote numbers scrambled all over the page, gave her a pencil and asked her to start from the first number trying not to lift the pencil off the page.
– – –
We keep doing this and such small puzzle activities here and there.
This is fun and helps them in:
↗️Learning numbers (one can choose upper case lower case letters, urdu alphabets, days, months)
↗️ Visual memory
↗️ Hand control
↗️ Cognitive development
↗️ Problem solving
↗️ Enhancing mood
Give it a try. Doesn’t require extra time, effort or tools 😄
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#mychildandme#involved#parenting#homeschooling#qualitytime#stemlearning#stem#teaching#puzzles#visualmemory#parentingtips#parentingishard#cognitivedevelopment#grwnup328#childpsychology#childbraindevelopment#problemsolvingskills#maryamejaz#maryame#educationaltoys
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