Category: Parenting

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Creative Ways Moms Can Engage Kids Post-Exams During Holidays

School exams can be a whirlwind of stress and study for kids, and when holidays roll around, it’s a golden opportunity for relaxation, fun, and creativity. Mothers can use this time to not only unwind but also foster exploration, learning, and bonding.

Here are some delightful and engaging ways to make the most of the post-exam holidays:


1. Start a Mini Project

Get creative with projects that kids can truly immerse themselves in. From DIY crafts to building models, they can:

  • Design and create a family photo scrapbook.
  • Build a birdhouse or garden trellis.
  • Make homemade soap or candles to gift family members.


2. Host a Theme Week


Each day of the week revolves around a different theme:

  • Science Monday: Experiment with simple physics or chemistry projects (like making slime or mini volcanoes).
  • Foodie Tuesday: Cook a new dish or bake together.
  • Adventure Friday: Plan treasure hunts or backyard camping experiences.These themes add excitement to routine activities and give kids something to look forward to!
  • These themes add excitement to routine activities and give kids something to look forward to!


3. Explore Local Gems


Dive into the unexplored corners of your city or neighbourhood. Take them to:

  • Local museums or art galleries.
  • Nature trails or botanical gardens.
  • Heritage sites or quirky cafes.


These outings are enriching and often leave children with fascinating tales to share! Let them plan the day and meals to pack.


4. Unleash the Artist in Them


Provide materials like paints, coloured paper, and clay, and let them express their imagination. Ideas include:

  • Painting murals on walls or old pieces of furniture.
  • Writing short stories or poems based on their holiday experiences.
  • Creating jewellery or trinkets to wear or gift. A lot of kits are now available online that have materials and designs for kids to start learning.


5. Organize a Skill Swap with Friends


Invite other mothers and their kids for a fun day where everyone shares a skill. For example:

  • One child teaches origami.
  • Another demonstrates basic dance steps.
  • Mothers can also join in, sharing their cooking, knitting, or crafting skills.


It’s collaborative, educational, and perfect for boosting their social skills.


6. Plan a Charity Drive


Engage kids in activities with purpose by organizing:

  • A donation drive of clothes, toys, or books for local shelters.
  • Volunteer sessions where kids can visit animal shelters or orphanages.
  • Crafting items to sell at a garage sale, donating proceeds to charity.


Teaching kids the value of giving back instils empathy and a sense of community.


7. Dive into Digital Learning


While screen time should be monitored, plenty of educational apps and platforms offer fun, interactive learning experiences:

  • Try to learn coding online or through applications available.
  • Explore online music lessons or creative writing workshops.
  • Watch documentaries or virtual tours of famous landmarks worldwide.


8. Bond Through Cooking and Gardening


Get hands-on with activities that create lasting memories:

  • Cook a new recipe together every week—let kids measure, mix, and garnish. Baking is a great way for them to start cooking.
  • Start a small garden where they can plant and take care of flowers, herbs, or vegetables.


It’s a wonderful mix of fun and responsibility!


9. Challenge Them with Fun Competitions


Friendly challenges can keep their minds active:

  • Solve puzzles, riddles, or crosswords.
  • Organize mini sports tournaments in the community.
  • Set up LEGO-building contests with prizes for the most creative structure.


10. Reflect and Celebrate


Wrap up the holidays with a reflective activity where kids can:

  • Journal their favourite moments.
  • Create a “holiday achievements” display (like a chart of skills learned or places visited).
  • Plan a small party or get-together to celebrate their new milestones.

Holidays after exams are a chance for kids to relax and recharge, but they also offer endless opportunities for mothers to nurture creativity, curiosity, and connection. Whether through hands-on projects or exploring new experiences, this time can be as rewarding for mothers as it is for their children.

This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla.

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Can emotional wellness be engrained in our kids?

As much as we stress physical wellness in kids, it is time that their emotional wellness is considered equally important. The ability of the child to recognize, understand, and manage feelings effectively is termed emotional wellness. This process of cultivating emotional wellness in kids is dynamic and developed over time through experiences and interactions.


It is an ongoing process that the child goes through while being nurtured and developed, it cannot be compared to facts and knowledge that gets engrained. Living in a fast-paced world, it is of utmost importance that emotional wellness is taught to kids to manage their emotions or feelings with tools in a healthy way.


To thrive well in all aspects, build strong relationships, and be better equipped to face challenges children must be taught to be emotionally resilient. We as parents must use strategies to bring up kids who are good with emotional wellness and assist in creating a strong foundation for their journey into emotional wellness.

These strategies will help instill emotional wellness in kids in the long run.


Being a role model


We as parents or caregivers are their first role models. We play a major role in shaping their emotional well-being. Demonstrating emotional intelligence by acknowledging and expressing feelings healthily is the first step. Discussing what we feel and how we express, models how we emotionally express ourselves and makes them understand the safe space where they can express themselves freely.
The heart of family life is love, acceptance, and security which the child must understand does not depend on their accomplishments. Mistakes or defeats must be accepted and expected. A home that is full of unconditional love and affection is where confidence finds its way.



Nurture their self-esteem and confidence


Setting realistic goals: children when young need realistic goals that help match abilities with ambitions. Old children can increase their self-confidence by choosing goals with your help which also tests their abilities.


Praise them: Encouraging the child in the initial steps will make them want to learn more and explore. Giving them a safe space to explore, assuring them often through interaction and smiles will let them know they have your attention which in turn builds their self-confidence.


Being honest: We should never hide our feelings and let them know about failures. This will help them understand that mistakes do happen and adults make them too.


Avoid sarcasm: When the child faces defeat, talk to them to understand how they feel. They need a pep talk when they are upset. Assure them later when they are ready to talk.


Skills that can be taught: Empathy, communication, and self-regulation are emotional skills that can be taught and practiced. We parents or caregivers can provide children with opportunities to practice the same.


Resilience: It is the ability to bounce back from adversity which can be taught by helping kids understand how to cope with defeats, setbacks, disappointment, and stress healthily.


Individual differences: Every child is unique, wherein their level of emotional development may vary. Some children who are naturally more resilient may cope well whereas some might need more guidance and help. We must recognize these differences and handle them accordingly.


Fostering open communication: Open and honest communication is the foundation. This will enable the child to share their feeling both positive and negative. We as parents should not jump to conclusion rather listen to them attentively and ensure them that their emotion is valid. If this is done the kid will understand that you are their safe space to open up.


Emotional literacy: Teaching them different emotions by labeling them appropriately will help them understand what they are going through and how it can be processed. Books or charts can be beginner tools that the child can use to point out what they feel.


Mindfulness and relaxation


To manage stress and anxiety children can be taught simple mindfulness and relaxation techniques. Breathing, yoga, and meditation techniques will help them be more aware of emotions and handle them effectively. These techniques can be introduced in a child-friendly way.


Limit screens and emphasize outdoors


Excessive screen time can harm their emotional well-being. Encouraging them to spend more time outdoors in physical activities and nature connect can help in fostering healthy emotional well-being.


Empathy and compassion


A vital component of emotional wellness is empathy. Understanding and caring about the feelings of others can be taught to kids by letting them know about perspectives and helping them to look at the world from other viewpoints. Making them engage in volunteering and helping people in need will make them practice empathy.


Problem-solving by resolving conflicts


Kids must be encouraged to solve problems and resolve conflicts from an early age. This will help them understand what they need, how to make people understand, listen to others, and work towards their goals.


When we talk about nurturing emotional wellness in kids, it is a lifelong process that happens dynamically. It cannot be taught overnight. It needs lots of patience, understanding, and consistent efforts from parents. It is a complex world out there, so we as parents can give them tools to handle their emotions healthily.

Encouraging open communication, and empathy, raising self-confidence, making them practice mindfulness, and providing them a supportive space are some of the ways we can help them. But being unique every child takes their time in the journey of emotional wellness. We should be there to guide them and provide them with our empathetic presence, develop resilience, and help them lead a life that is fulfilling and emotionally healthy.

This post is a part of Truly Yours Holistic Emotions Blog Hop by Rakhi Jayashankar and Roma Gupta Sinha’.

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Here’s how Happinetz guarantees the best internet security for your kids

Children these days grow up in an environment that is dominated by technology and the vast landscape of the Internet. While the internet has content and information that is educational and has opportunities for entertainment, it is also essential that kids understand the importance of internet safety from a young age. And we as parents have a crucial role to play by having measures that guarantee the best internet security for kids.


Some years before, when my kids were young, it was essential to teach them road safety by practising how to cross roads or how to take lanes. Similarly, now it is much-needed to help them traverse the virtual world through safe internet practices with the same level of awareness and caution.


Let us now discuss some strategies to keep kids safe in the internet world. One of these strategies is to use Happinetz, a boon to every parent to provide SafeInternetForKids. It guarantees the best internet security for your kids.


5 ways to keep kids safe in the internet world:


Online privacy


Teach kids online privacy by explaining that personal information like name, address, school name, and phone number should only be shared with trusted individuals and not anyone else without permission.


Phishing and scams


Make them aware of phishing and scams by explaining ways to identify phishing and scam emails targeting to steal information. Educate them about suspicious links and the dangers that follow when we accidentally click on them.


Strong passwords


Encourage them to create strong and unique passwords for accounts which are difficult to crack. Make them understand the importance of not sharing passwords with friends.


Living in harmony online


Kids need to be taught the importance of treating people with respect online as much as they are taught to behave offline. Since cyberbullying has increased, it is important that kids behave with empathy and compassion to fellow beings both online and offline.


The power of discernment


Make them understand the importance of critical thinking about the information they come across online. Not all they see is credible and accurate so they should have a discerning eye to navigate the digital world.


Open communication with kids is the foundation of their online safety. An environment that is conducive for them to discuss anything that happens online must be present at home.


The powerful tool that the internet is, can enrich our lives, but kids should be made aware of the risks that it comes with and of the ways to safeguard them.


Happinetz – your box of happiness that guarantees the best Internet Security for your Kids


Two years back, when people asked me if there was something that I worried about my kids, I told them their nutritional intake and growth as per age was my constant worry. Cut to reality now, if I’m being asked the same question, my answer would be their exposure to the wide world of the Internet and making sure they are safe.


Reading spine-chilling instances of cybercrimes involving children and paedophiles in the guise of genuine users gives me the creeps because kids these days need screens not only for entertainment but also for education purposes thanks to COVID-19 and online schooling. Parents being busy in their work schedule and household chores find it difficult to constantly monitor what kids watch and whether it is age-appropriate.
Technology is now an integral part of our lives, monitoring the screen time for kids and filtering out content that is not age-appropriate is an important responsibility for us parents that cannot be overlooked.


This is when I stumbled upon Happinetz, the perfect solution that guarantees the best Internet Security for kids. It is a box that helps filter out age-inappropriate content and manages the amount of screen time for kids. The box is easy to install and can be connected wired or wireless to your existing router. A mobile application installed on your phone will give you the control to set screen time limits, block content, and even enable/disable categories based on need.


The box can monitor up to ten devices and can even be placed in the kids’ room as it can work wirelessly. Here is how Happinetz can be your solution that guarantees the best Internet Security for kids.


Set different modes


The device has three different modes with different access capabilities- parent, teen, and kid. Each of these modes has their predefined settings which can be customised as the need arises. The customization can be with respect to the different categories of content being watched and the whitelisting/blacklisting of links.


Filtering apps and websites age appropriately


Happinetz categorises the internet, be it from applications or websites under 15 categories which help in filtering out age-inappropriate content. A toggle button helps to turn these on and off in case the setting needs to be changed. However, this is not applicable to the categories Adult & Security and Safe Search. You can also block certain domains by using the advanced feature.


Monitor screen time, pause, and extend timelines


This is my favourite feature that gives me the control to pause the internet for a particular device. How cool is that? The app lets you monitor the screen time, categorizing what websites or apps were browsed and which devices were used.
Apart from this, there is a feature to get an SOS notification when the box is turned off or gets disconnected. One more interesting feature is that if a device disconnects from the Happinetz network, you get notified so no smart work by the kid would work here. Not only that, there are also notifications for the time period ending and if the device is in parent mode for more than 6 hours.


The box is easy to set up and adding devices can be done in a jiffy once you get used to using the app. This is a must-have in all households hereafter, given that we know that we are going to be living in this technology-driven world that will need kids to be with screens. Now you need not worry about what they are watching or how long they are on the screens. Toggling on categories was initially tricky for me to figure out but now I’m loving the control that I have of their screen times. There is a lot for me to learn as a parent from the app and my experience so far has been good. This would be a good investment and worth the price.


Thanks to Happinetz, I can now be stress-free as it guarantees the best Internet security for kids. I am hoping that the meltdowns will now start to reduce. I am now confident that my kids will be responsible digital citizens thanks to Happinetz, while they cherish the beauty of offline moments alongside.

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Cuddables – The best wipes for your baby


It is that time of the year when we take out all the woolen and get ready to be covered up because it’s winter. But if you are a parent, you are imbibed with that extra care nature for your baby, be it any time of the year, not just the winter.


Be it the food, clothes, bath, and body, you must strive hard to find and get the best for your baby. If you have a newborn or a younger kid you are most likely to use wipes. With the entire world moving on to sustainable options, you would only want to pick products that don’t prove harmful to your baby and the earth.
Presenting Cuddables, water baby wipes that ensure proper care for your kids. Read the entire post to know about the benefits and this could be a better choice you make for your baby.


About the Brand Cuddables


Cuddables from Prakriti Essentials is a revolutionary and side-effect-free product that desires to secure a permanent place on the shelves and hearts of consumers. The product considers the consumer’s needs and incorporates ancient wisdom from Ayurveda and principles from modern scientific research.


The comfort-oriented, gentle product of Cuddables ensures to make your experience of baby care wholesome and lovable. The product is brought to the shelf by keeping in mind the perspective of the mother. Through cherished testimonies for the product, which is the honest reviews from the consumer, every product is subjected to multiple levels of quality checks and backed by extensive research.


Cuddables water baby wipes


These are water wipes with 99% water. These wipes are soft as cotton and just the ones that are perfect for the baby’s sensitive skin. The wipes are made from plant-based fibres and do not have any artificial fragrances. These wipes, like cotton cloth, help cleanse the baby’s skin, nourishing and hydrating it.
They do not have any toxic ingredients and in fact include the goodness of natural ingredients like castor oil, barbadense extract, glycerine, and citric acid. These wipes are 100% bio-degradable and are SLS, paraben, toxins, and alcohol-free.


These wipes are dermatologically tested and are safe for use on a baby’s sensitive skin. They are soft and gentle as a mother’s touch and hence you need not worry about allergy or irritation to the baby’s skin.


The wipes are fragrant-free and maintain the desired pH making them a better choice to be your hygiene partner for the baby. Fragrance in wipes through artificial agents could pose a threat of causing allergies, which is the very reason cuddables are made safe as fragrant-free for your baby.


Here are the top reasons why Cuddables can be your better choice

  • Fragrance-Free
  • 100% cotton fabric and no plastic
  • 99% water
  • 3x thicker
  • Eco-friendly and biodegradable
  • Free from toxins, SLS, parabens, and alcohol
  • Desired pH for baby skin
  • Dermatologically tested for Allergy and irritation-free experience.


The wipes have been my hygiene companion for over a period. They not only help cleanse but also provide nourishment to baby skin. The feel of the wipe is just like a conventional cotton cloth. Since it is biodegradable, I need not worry about harming mother nature because I know that I have made the right choice for my baby and the world we live in.

I recommend the brand to all new moms and moms to be out there so that they make the right choice for their babies.

For more details check them out on Instagram.

The wipes can be purchased on the brand website, Amazon, Flipkart, meesho, and Snapdeal.

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How to raise an independent toddler ?

Not recently that I noticed my son stepping up for each and every thing mentioning that ‘i want to’ . Though he hasn’t started speaking fluently, the gibberish babble of saying and showing that he wants to do it by himself gave me a lot of thoughts.

Wanting to do everything what the adults do , including disciplining the sibling the way we do made me look at him in awe. Kids these days keep looking at you every second I say.

The desire to be independent is something that I found so adorable and at the same time exhausting as I was losing my cool very often. Though I do understand that it is our duty to raise self sufficient adults like we are.

At the same time it feels kind of scary when they take risks which I feel they are not ready yet. The mother instinct in me, one time wanted to let him try and on the other end getting tensed that don’t let him.

As a result, it did make the day longer and I knew that folding a cloth would now take ten minutes or even putting away the plate after eating.

The child’s independence is letting go of the stage in childhood. That is where realisation kicks in hard saying that they’re growing up and then there is. No going back.

So how do you encourage your toddler to be independent

Not holding them back

You always begin where you tend to hold them back, embrace their decision to do things on their own. Guide and coach then but do not hold them back and tell them there is a time to learn doing this.

This could start with them wearing shoes. Though it takes forever, I don’t think you should hurry up here. Your hands might itch to get there and get it done, but stay back and let them do it.

Show them, do together, monitor and leave them alone

Them wanting to do a task above comfort level can be scary. But what do you do when they insist on doing it.

Think whether it is age appropriate. Start by showing how it is done, proceed to doing it with them together, go ahead with monitoring when they do and help them if they get stuck and lastly let them try it alone.

You can start this by making them prepare their snack , making their bed or folding clothes.

Though the process is time consuming the end result it gives is your child being independent. It all starts with the kid watching when you do it and ends with them doing it on their own without needing your help.

Letting them do things their way

Micro management is something that nobody likes not even your toddler . You should not only embrace their decision to do things on their own but also do it in their own way.

All of us are different people in having our thinking process and our own preferences. Give them the freedom to do things their way rather than having them copy our style.

Do not help them in their struggle

Any mom doesn’t like their kid struggling. Nobody likes to see the disappointed look on their face it the anger that’s going to be building up after the failure.

When you attempt to help them it is going to be harmful for them in future. They come to a conclusion that we think they aren’t cut out for the tasks. They have the easy way to sense our doubts instead of our support in them.

In fact they wil learn much more when they fail than they learn when we step in and help them out. They also get the message that it’s okay to give up when something gets hard.

Nurture their independence letting them struggle. They will see the obstacles as challenges and find ways to come out of it.

Accomodating their independence

Having my daughter express her wish to help me in kitchen wasn’t the most efficient use of time. I realised that rather than being grateful that I’m having help ,I was more tensed if I will be able to finish cooking within the time.

But instead of saying no, I made a change. Rather than hurrying up the process , I made sure I had enough time before dinner preparation so that she could chip in and help me out.

In this way it can make them work on their own pace and keep us free from feeling the rush. You can also try this if they want to dress up themselves or pack their own lunch boxes.

We can avoid power struggles by not butt heading with them, during our routines and instead take into account their need for extra time they need to practice to do things on their own and in their own way.

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Parenting trends to embrace 2022

March 2020, the whole world came to a standstill. Whether for us elders it was a jolt though our interactions were still happening and we were understandable of the current situation, the kids were the most affected.

The indirect impact and it’s collateral damage on the kids was something huge. Loss of social life, online classes, assignments, parents inability to spend time since they were juggling schedules due to work from home, absence of playground activities the damage that was done is immeasurable.

The current challenge that children face require changes in the way we parent due to the demands in parent – child bringing up and to keep up with changing times.

With schools also opening doors it’s time we make changes and help children get back their joy of life.

Talking about trauma

Children lacked communication with extended family amd friends because it was cut off. Being lonely and feeling depressed was something we wish kids hadn’t been exposed to, but sadly had to. This year schools and homes should strongly emphasize on rebuilding this sense of bonding , friendship and awakening the community by providing them support consistently which they lacked. Emotional and mental well being should be widely discussed and be the centred topic in. 2022.

Making internet a safe place

The pandemic made us more dependant on the virtual space.. The internet became our friend, neighbour and our go to for everything. The kids also had to spend more time online which couldn’t be avoided but also had chances of being misused or cannot be a safer place for them. We should take up responsibility of making it a safer place but also make their time on internet useful.

Gifting experiences over money

Children love and would often have a reminder of experiences than the tangible things. Gifting them an experience will leave both the parent and the child a memory of the experience and the time they spent to curate one. Maybe a room makeover for them performing well, involving them in helping you choose decor or even paint can be a wonder experience.

Saying no to gender stereotypes or being gender neutral

Raising children by not forcing them to conform to gender rules. Let’s say no to pink. for girls and blue for boys. Boys can cry and girls can repair bikes, no differentiating wheels and heels, there is no space for gender bias. This will boost the child’s self-esteem and self awareness. This will also make them aware of an inclusive society.

Listening to them

The most important aspect of parent child bond is listening which also helps in strengthening it. The child is curious and might often come to you with questions, ideas, suggestions. Take time however busy you might be to sit down and listen to them. They would sometimes need help in communication, this will help us decipher what they want to convey and why they aren’t able to. This makes the bond more friendly and more approachable for them.

Now tell me have you started making changes in the way. How has your experiences been? I’d love to know.

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5 best ways to invest for child education

Best ways to invest for child education
Child education investment

The average Indian household’s major expense has been skyrocketing even though we do not see the same trend in inflation. Higher education costs have been rising ever since and it is one of the major cash outflows of Indian families.

Be it a four year engineering or a five year medicine or a three year art degree the rise in costs haven’t spared any of these sectors. Gone are the days when they used to say we cannot afford engineering or medicine better to take up arts and science.

The low competition and the lower rates at Government institutions made it easy for the previous generations. But today the tough competition to get admitted into quality governments institutions is making people sought costly private institutions forcibly.

Though in the near future we might have some of the global majors come down to our country the education costs are still going to be on a higher scale. Change in lifestyle and the inflation also has an impacts on the higher education costs.

Our way of Living definitely influences the decision we make on where we send our kids to get educated. Quite often the trend that is seen is children being brought up under affluence predominantly reject being admitted to Government institutions due to the minimal infrastructure facilities.

The burning question in every Indian parents mind is that will they be able to afford the higher education for their wards. Will they have any problems on the funding for the choice of higher education chosen by their children.

The answer would confidently be a ‘yes‘ if they are an early bird in investing and have a clear cut understanding of taking the right steps on where to invest.

Here are the most commonly faced challenges by parents and ways to overcome them when it comes to funding for higher education.

Early bird

Beginning to saving early is an obvious solution . This will not only help in yielding a large sum but the money will also gain from the compounding power. A sip investment for 18 years in equity with an amount of 9000 giving a 15% return is not going to make one crore a daunting amount.

Compounding needs to work on longer period because the inflation rate of education seems to be very high . So saving as early from when the child is three months is one of the doable solutions yielding great results.

When you start late you are not only going to see lesser returns but also can ruin your plans on other financial goals. Starting at 40, isn’t going to become a successful plan because it can definitely land you in a short fall of the amount that is needed.

The Indian household immediately plunges the retirement savings to manage the expense which is a risky move because this will make you dependent on them once you get old. Employment nature is changing because young workers who are energetic replace the one’s at 40 because of their latest skills and this apparently makes it necessary to start investing early.

Short term helps play safe

If the time you have is less than five years then relying on the lower return fixed income instruments is the option. But on a positive note they offer guaranteed returns and safety. These factors make it important in short term.

Though these options seem fairly safe it isn’t fine to do it on a random basis. When you invest in these debt instruments you will need to check that liquidity shouldn’t be a problem .

In this case the much lauded PPF may seem to be a great option but if the money is needed in 3-5 years this idea wouldn’t work.

The tax savings bond on the other side looks to be attractive but poses a reinvestment risk. Always safe to opt for the cumulative option because the interest payout every year, will need to be reinvested in lower interest rates

Choosing the right option that suits your need

Not only does starting early important, but investing on the right place yields good difference.

Equity mutual funds have delivered annualized returns of 16.5 percent in ten years. But this is not everyone’s cup of tea.

Indians have a high urge to save and invest but they still look to the side of safety. If 15-18 years is the time you have for the child’s higher education then equity funds would be the right place to start investing.

The return volatility is flattened out since this is a longer time period. So if you have the will to risk you can go to allocate even 75-80 percentage of the portfolio here. Diversified equity or stocks can be great for investing to tackle the inflation rate of higher education.

The remaining can be put into ppf, fixed deposit or tax free bonds which are safe.

Portfolio review

A yearly review of the portfolio is a must , once the portfolio is in place. Keep a check on the amount required for goal. In this case the two main factors would be tution fee and cost of living. If any one of these rise up you will need to rethink the inflation rate.

Keep checking whether the portfolio is on the track to meet the goal. If there is a downfall you may need to increase. This is also applicable of there is a salary increase.

Keep a check on the fund performance. If a fund lags don’t jump to sell off rather stop sip and invest in in a better performing fund. Analyse the fund and understand the reason for its down performance. Make a decision after analysing 3-4 quarters.

Make sure to rebalance the portfolio at the end of each year. Sell an outperforming fund and reinvest in underperforming funds.

Goal approach

The long term investment process is not static. Start shifting out money to safety of debt if you are in 10-15 year equity investment.

A systematic transfer to short term debit fund would be apt. When the savings is for a crucial goal be sure to act conservatively. The child’s admission to college should be in mind and a down performance in the stock cannot do a spoilsport in your child’s future.

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Gas and colic relieve in babies

A woman carries her baby for nine months inside the womb. But it doesn’t stop there. It continues until the child grows and she has to take one step at a time. Just after getting out of the delivery trauma and birthing experience, boom it’s the breastfeeding and making the baby sleep.

What is colic?

And when you say sleep it depends on a lot of factors. The baby should have been fed well and not have any issues in digestion. Quite often babies exhibit symptoms like crying for prolonged duration. Science terms this as ‘colic‘. The baby twists, turns and exhibits actions clearly denoting not being comfortable.

This could either be due to issues in digestion or difficulty in passing gas or poop. There is no clear cut reason mentioning why the baby experiences colic pain. But there are a lot of ways to ease it out and make baby calm. The behavior is repetitive and is mostly stressful for the parent especially the mother.

Ways to ease colic pain

  • Holding the baby in a certain position
  • giving tummy time
  • massaging the belly and naval
  • applying hing paste are few practices that are done to ease the pain.

But a trustworthy aid across centuries has been woodwards gripe water. Primarily contains dill seed oil and sodium bicarbonate which helps ease the pain in tummy and neutralize the stomach acid.

Woodwards gripe water

The gripe water is alcohol and sugar free and has been a helping hand to most new mothers who struggle with babies having colic pain. The gripe water can also be used when baby is teething since that also takes a toll on the normal digestive cycles.

As much as the method of giving birth, care during pregnancy, feeding the child, their introduction to solids, sleep schedules have seen major changes the one thing that’s been the same across generations and time immemorial has been the usage of gripe water.

Woodwards has been a trustworthy brand across generations and ancestors swear by it. Handling a colicky baby can be overwhelming and kind of exhausting at times but over a period of time kids outgrow that phase .

Could also be termed as a product that helps new mothers relax and don’t take a toll on their mental health worrying about this. When you have this handy you are rest assured you have a happy baby.

Happy baby = happy mother.

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@Sindhu Vinod Narayan. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sindhu Vinod Narayan (Thatmadrasmom) with the right and specific direction to the original content.

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Why jigsaw puzzles for kids and adults?

Puzzles are generally great for a time pass or as a hobby. Age is no bar to solve puzzles. There is one for every kind of person and their age. Playing or trying to solve puzzles not only does belong in the hobby group but also is great for the mind and health.
Jigsaw puzzles in particular have a lot of health benefits where it concerns the brain.



What is a jigsaw puzzle?


Jigsaw puzzles are of the tiling type which consists of shapes that need to be interlocked to solve the puzzle. The shapes are irregular but when interlocked put up a complete picture. The puzzles vary in sizes typically upon the number of pieces the entire picture or mosaic is broken into. The more number of pieces, the more complicated it is and more the level of concentration it requires to solve the puzzle.
The jigsaw puzzle is bringing back a silent revolution that makes screen time take a back seat. Ever since the pandemic began people started spending more time inside locked up in homes. Screen time not only increased for kids but also for adults. The re-entry of the jigsaw puzzles as a family game sure is a tough competitor to the screen times.


Not only that puzzle solving gave it a chance for the family to engage but it also had health benefits even for the elderly. So there is no way they’re giving you a no the next time you call them to play.



Benefits of Puzzling



Here are some benefits of puzzling that would convince you if you had not given it a thought to start and for you to convince others.



Improve visual-spatial reasoning

Imagining and visualising shape and objects position in mind to see where they fit and their relationship with other shapes is called visual-spatial reasoning. When you try putting up the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle your mind takes time to see where the pieces fit into the bog picture. This requires closer attention to the individual pieces. So improvising the skill is also helpful when you drive car, use a map , do packing or even understand movements in dance and try to master them.



Pay great attention to detail

When the puzzle has many similar pieces, it requires greater level of attention to notice the differences and help in completing the puzzle. This requires the eyes to scan for detail and understand the minute differences which can be applied to real life situations. This also plays an important role in the quality of work if we choose to apply the precision.



Improves short-term memory

Solving jigsaw puzzles helps in sparking and strengthening the neural connections. This in turn gives rise to a lot of new connections, which increase our solving speed and thought process.
When we choose a piece we look for similar pieces to make it fit into the picture. The mind visualizes the image on large scale and keeps it in memory to find similar pieces. When you store this information it helps in improving short term memory.



Problem solving capability

To solve a problem we use a lot of approaches in trial and error methodologies. We check hypothesis, theories and formulas when things don’t go as we plan them. This helps us in changing perspectives. This skill of problem solving or critical thinking can be applied to work because it helps us in having better adaptive skills.



Better mood and less stress

Solving a puzzle helps you relax and making it a stress relieving activity. It helps the brain switch states and be alert. Dopamine production is greatly increased when we solve puzzle. Dopamine is responsible for mood uplifting and optimism. Every time we set the piece in the right place dopamine gets released which makes you want to do more of it. It helps in memory, concentration and motivation.



Great activity for me-time

Solving jigsaw puzzles can be a great activity for people who want to spend time with themselves. To unwind ourselves from the digital lifestyle this is a great way to de-stress.



Exercises both left and right brain

When you solve jigsaw puzzle you exercise both the left and right brain. The left brain is logical and right brain works creative , so when you are putting up the pieces in the puzzle its a mental workout that keeps both sides engaged.



Puzzle regularly and live longer

People who solve puzzles jigsaw and crossword have less chances of developing alzheimers disease and memory loss. This increases life span. Solving puzzles help in stimulating brain and helps in warding off the plaque that marks the start of Alzheimers disease.



BENEFITS FOR KIDS



Kids benefit in many ways in terms of physical, emotional and cognition when they play jigsaw puzzles.


When we say emotional benefits we say that children improve self-confidence, self-control and patience.
The physical benefits include motor skills like hand eye coordination and fine grip between the thumb and index fingers.
The cognition improvement helps in developing their concentration and perception.


Start with puzzles that have interesting themes for children and you will definitely see them take a liking towards solving them. Happy puzzling.

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla and sponsored by Queen’s Brigade.

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How to teach money to kids

Talking finances and money to kids isn’t complicated and something shouldn’t be ignored anymore. Gone are the days when it is fine we reply saying money “money doesn’t grow on trees”. This is the piece of financial advice we were handed those days and it ended there.



If we want our kids to manage their money without issues in future then teaching them about financial responsibility at an early age is the solution. A habit that can take more time to build is saving. We can clearly say that quite a few adults are yet to master it.



As parents we want our kids to have the best. Not only the best in toys, dress, education but most importantly we want them to be safe and secure. A key lesson that needs to be taught which will guarantee they will do well is the lesson about money. This lays the foundation which will make them do well in life.



Many of us now wish that we could have been taught more about managing money. Missing the opportunities and being reluctant to talk about finances are reasons many parents give on why they couldn’t discuss with kids.
Children are very eager to learn about the wisdom of finance we have. So giving them the gift of financial literacy would be the best foundation we can do for them.

Here are ways you could start teaching money



Start early

Math forms most part of money knowledge. So the learning about money could start as early as when they start learning math. What is money?Where and how it is used are the first and foremost concepts.
Also they need to know where it comes from. They need to clearly understand that it simply doesn’t come out of the wallet. Make them understand that we get paid when we work. SO no work results in no pay. This would make them understand that to earn they must work.



Give allowances

Assign a chore or ask them to run an errand and reward them. As they age you can increase the amount. Teach concepts like save, invest and spend. In this way they will know to allocate what they receive. Creating opportunities for them to earn is a great way to learn about money and to understand that their work is rewarded.



Teaching them to save

It is important to let them know that money is not only for spending but also to save for future. Saving will help in teaching discipline, gratification, setting goals , planning, being prepared and most importantly feeling secure and independent.
Giving them chances to set short term goals like to buy their favourite stationary or favorite toy will make them more enthusiastic to save. TO begin with they could start with saving in a piggy bank and then proceed to opening a savings account once they are old enough.



Make them understand and make decisions

Tracking where money comes from and how is it going to be spent teaches children to make smart decisions. Make them understand that they can pay people to get things done for them when they grow up or also spend in getting things for themselves. The key here is for them to understand that it is going to cost them either way.



Involve them in financial decisions and ask opinions

When I say ask opinions it doesn’t mean you have to go by it. It will help in boosting their morale that they are becoming mature and capable of becoming a good adult. They will also get to know how you handle the situations and learn to model you. Start this in their teens, the goal here is to talk about money freely and not getting stressed up.

See where they go wrong and grasp the situation to teach

There might be situations where the kid spends the entire money , or cable bill rockets and so does electricity. DO not cave in. Instead use this opportunity to make them understand that if money is gone it is gone . Let them know that extra TV hours count, leaving the light on counts. This will make them realize and start acting responsible.



Work on your relationship

Kids learn by mimicking our behavior. So if they notice that we are stressed, spending beyond boundaries and keeping the finance scare they are most likely going to become like you. They cannot think it is normal if you spend money beyond limits so act responsibly and be a good role model.
This also sends out a strong message that you practice what you preach. Talking to them about saving and investing and on the contrary ending up be scarce doesn’t picture a good role model.



Teaching differences

Make sure kids understand differences between needs and wants. Let them be responsible for the decision they make to spend money on a trip to circus or a video game. So later they cannot blame you. Let them enable themselves by making a priority on what do they want first. Making them understand what is their dire need and what is a want helps them make better decisions.


Gratification

Kids need to understand that they don’t always come with a bag of goodies after leaving a store. Visiting every time doesn’t mean we spend and buy stuff. The goodie will make its way during an occasion and not during every store visit. Making them save money for their most wanted goodie is another way they learn to save. And once after they purchase you could see how thoughtfully they make use since it came out of their own money.



So it isn’t late if you haven’t started. There is no right time and no time when it denotes your lagging behind. If you are reading this and plan to start, I wish you the best.

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@Sindhu Vinod Narayan. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sindhu Vinod Narayan (Thatmadrasmom) with the right and specific direction to the original content.

This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon.’