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“Easter Bunny in a Basket” by logoscambodia is licensed under CC by 2.0

“Misc Egg Carton” by glitch is licensed under CC by 2.0

​The other day a good friend suggested I should read The Gardener and the Carpenter by Alison Gopnik, a renowned developmental psychologist in the United States. Apparently, we as parents tend to unknowingly act as carpenters for our kids instead of being gardeners who should let them bloom and flourish in their own right. Being a gardener parent is akin to good parenting, claims the author.

“Parents Swinging Child Silhouette” by GDJ is licensed under CC by 2.0

I just finished reading the book and I have to admit, it did strike a chord somewhere within. I realized the fact that me as a parent, and a majority of the parents around me are following what she calls ‘the narrow parenting model’. For instance, according to most parents, a strict set of rules need to be adhered to by our kids – such as kids that go to school have to learn science mostly be reading facts about it rather than by doing stuff. (This was really satisfying for me as a homeschooling parent – most of our science lessons at home are taught as well as learnt by doing instead of just learning by rote.)

In the author’s words: “So our job as parents is not to make a particular kind of child. Instead, our job is to provide a protected space of love, safety and stability in which children of many unpredictable kinds can flourish. Our job is not to shape our children’s minds; it’s to let those minds explore all the possibilities that the world allows. Our job is not to tell children how to play; it’s to give them the toys and pick the toys up again after the kids are done. We can’t make children learn, but we can let them learn.”
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She couldn’t have put it better in words.

The Chinese New Year is also commonly called the Lunar New Year, as its months are coordinated by the cycles of the moon. It starts on a different date each year, this year on February 16. Today, the Chinese New Year is celebrated not only in China alone, but as a popular Spring Festival all over the world.

Here are five fascinating books to introduce your little ones to this special occasion.
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Dragon Dance: A Chinese New Year Lift-the-Flap Book (by Joan Holub): Meant for younger kids, everything fun associated with the Chinese New Year forms a part of this story – a scrumptious New Year family dinner, the wonderful Chinese parade or simply shopping for fresh flowers. The illustrations are colorful and the kids would love lifting up the flaps to see what lies underneath. My kids love dragon games and anything to do with dragons overall, so I’m sure they’ll enjoy this story.

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​Sarah (my daughter who’s growing up way faster than I would have liked and I can’t seem to do anything about it) declared today that she wants to be a ‘book writer’ when she grows up. Author, I corrected her. She wanted to know what extra she should do or study to become one. I have absolutely no qualms in admitting that I was feeling so puffed up with pride (though I did not show it) that my young daughter was so serious in this regard. A writer. What could be better? Creativity at its best.

“Telephone” by MabelAmber is licensed under CC by 2.0

So here’s what we did as a first step in that direction. We walked to the neighborhood store and bought her two brand new notebooks (a little fancy ones, with hard covers). My first and foremost suggestion to her was to start writing right away – a diary entry a day, about anything that may catch her fancy. It could be about her next-door neighbor pal whom she likes/dislikes and why; it could be a TV show that she enjoys watching; it could even be what she ate for dinner and the family talks on the dining table. The key was to start writing every single day without fail, to make this a habit. She readily agreed and is already penning down her first entry, the tip of her tongue sticking out (this happens when concentration is at its very peak).
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And you know what? I’m starting a diary too from today, inspired by daughter dearest. Who knows, one fine day we might just come out with a published copy of Mum & Daughter Chronicles!

“Honey” by stevepb is licensed under CC by 2.0​

My kids (and I’m sure a majority of all kids everywhere) absolutely adore smoothies. Breakfast for them has to have a smoothie in tow and I very happily oblige, since it is nothing but pure milk along with the goodness of fruit. Recently, I’ve started asking my daughter to make her own smoothie by measuring out its ingredients and then blending them all together. The son is still too young to do so but he watches, perched up on a stool. We have a measuring glass which my daughter uses to measure out the yogurt and fruit juice (which I squeeze beforehand) before adding them to the blender with the fruit pieces. She now knows all about milliliters (ml) and liters, thanks to the smoothie making process! Yesterday I asked my younger one to measure out a little honey in the glass (up to a certain ml level) and top up the smoothie with it. He was thrilled to be ‘grown-up enough’ to be measuring out things!

We’re talking about honey here for the simple reason that it’s National Honey month. The underlying idea is to get your kids to measure out liquids and/or solids and learn about the basic units of measurement through a hands-on activity, rather than just through written worksheets and the like.
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Beehive Craft

“Scissors” by stux is licensed under CC by 2.0

In my last post, I talked about my kids being fans of Winnie the Pooh. Just the other day, an article made me realize something I had known since long, and yet refused to acknowledge; that I am as much (or perhaps even more) of a die-hard fan of Harry Potter than my kids are of Winnie the Pooh.
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This year marks two decades of the introduction of the magical world of Harry Potter. It was on June 26 1997 that the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, had hit bookshelves and taken the world by storm. And the magic continues to live on and multiply ever since.

“Harry Potter” by ed_davad is licensed under CC by 2.0

Those who haven’t read the series sometimes seem flummoxed at the magical madness of it all. I mean, it’s actually a make-believe world with wizards and witches flying around on broomsticks, using wands to cast spells at each other and there’s apparently a school that teaches it all. What’s with the brouhaha about this non-existent world? Neither is our protagonist a superhero – he’s a very normal-looking, bespectacled boy who is neither strikingly handsome, nor outstandingly intelligent. Then why the great fan following?

If you ask me, it’s the words that are captivating more than the storyline itself. Rowling has managed to weave a wonderful tale of friendship and love, the triumph of good over evil and the hardships that must be overcome along the way. Here are some of my favorite lines from the books:
“Happiness can be found in the darkest of places, if only one remembers to turn on the lights.”
“It’s our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

And I’m pretty sure Rowling unknowingly described herself when she penned this dialogue for one of her characters:
“Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic.”

​My kids are big fans of Winnie the Pooh, so much so that they have Pooh-shaped cushions on their beds too. They probably love him because he is a cute bear, adores honey and enjoys partying, singing, dancing and merry-making with his fun group of pals.

“Disney” by Wetmount is licensed under CC by 2.0

Well, I love him too. Not exactly just for those reasons perhaps, but because of the simple little bits and pieces of dialogue that Winnie the Pooh says at times, that end up meaning so much. Read on and you’ll know what I mean.

• Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there someday.
• The things that make me different are the things that make me.
• You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
• Some people care too much. I think it’s called love.
• How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard!
• If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.
• If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.

The silly old bear seems not so silly any more once you grow up; once you start appreciating the life lessons he has given us every step of the way. Well, perhaps that’s why he’s the official ‘Ambassador of Friendship at the United Nations’!
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…which brings me to the crux of the matter, the real reason I started talking about our beloved Pooh in the first place. It’s the first Sunday of August – the International Day of Friendship. Happy Friendship Day!

“People” by PublicDomainPictures is licensed under CC by 2.0

“Feet” by Merio is licensed under CC by 2.0

“Marbles” by Arieth is licensed under CC by 2.0

“Bicycle” by AOMSIN is licensed under CC by 2.0

It’s summertime. The time of the year that we as kids looked forward to, and now our little ones await these months eagerly too. And yet, there is a world of a difference between our summers and our kids’ summers. Like chalk and cheese.

We’d mount our bicycles on sunny afternoons and pant up a hill; cycling for all that we were worth. And then, ecstatically, race ourselves down to the bottom. The best holidays would be the ones when we visited the beach, building sandcastles with small buckets and shovels, playing with the turtles and collecting sea shells. Evenings would be about building forts and castles out of pillows and old, ragged bed sheets, snuggling within them with a rug and a good book, all the while sipping on hot chocolate.

Nowadays, it’s a different story altogether. I literally have to push my kids out of the house to go and play outdoors on most days. Some overprotective parents I know are of the view that their kids might hurt themselves, scrape their knees or have a fall, if let out of sight. Creating too safe an environment for our kids does them more harm than good. At times, it is okay to allow your child to trip over something, get back up again on their own and learn from their mistakes. Playing catch with their friends outdoors is so much better than becoming couch potatoes as a result of the internet, too much television or video games.
Like they say, cheers to unkempt beach hair and tanned skin, flip flops and sandy toes, bruised knees and scraped hands. It’s those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer after all!