16 TIPS TO SURVIVE IF YOU ARE TRAVELLING WITH TODDLER

Travelling with your kids will be astounding.  Even though it takes a lot of effort, it will be fun. But it is not as easy as it seems. For your journey, these tips may help you.

1. Have plenty of time: Prebook trains, flights or hotels everything. Have plenty of time to avoid queues.
2. Make it handy: Make a list of things what the child needs every day. Mail me if you need a complete list for toddler travelling. 
3. Explain the trip: Even if your toddler cannot understand the meaning of your travel, explain where you are going, by what means(my daughter liked the train journey... Chuk Chuk Chuk...) whom you are going to see, or what you are going to see etc. 
4. Don't leave them hungry: Pack some handy snacks or food that can gain you sometime during the travel. 
5. Accept the truth: You may have breakdowns, meltdowns tantrums from your kids
6. Basic medication: Do not forget the basic medication for your kids. You may not know when you need them.
7. Identification cards/documents: Get your kids' ID cards for proofs required in travelling. You can ask for a discount using these cards.
8. Pack new toys or new books: New toys or books can gain you sometime during travelling or when they are cranky.
9. Give them a responsibility: Give them a bag to handle. Keep bottle or snacks or their toys in that
10. Avoid tight schedules: Especially toddles cannot adjust the tight schedule. Give them time to relax and adjust.
11. Engage them during the journey: During the flight or train journey talk to them if possible play some board games or small sitting games, so that they won't bother you. 
12. Make them comfortable at a new place: Ask them what they want, make them understand that they are in another place and get adjusted to that environment. Understand that they need time to adjust
13. If possible schedule the journey during their sleep time: Night journeys will be best if your kid is night sleeper. Adjust your journeys according to their sleep time.
14. Travel sickness: If this the kid has travel sickness, plan accordingly. Don't feed them to tummy full. Tummy makes their emotions. Feed them right. 
15. Spare: Spare outfit for you if you are travelling with a toddler: Spare outfit for the kid and also for you can help you during unexpected situations.
16. Carry a sling or stroller if you are planning for a vacation. Generally in India, we travel to parents’ house frequently. For this, you may need no stroller or sling. If you are planning a vacation you can carry these according to your comfort.

As a mother of a 3-year old, I travelled so much and faced so many problems with her. Hope these tips will help a new mother.

Happy Travelling!!!

Happy Motherhood!!!

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WHY YOUNG MOMS NEED THEIR MOMS

While sipping my ginger tea at 10 AM I felt relaxed, and started calling the usual number.

Her soothing voice “Did you wake up darling? How was your yesterday?”

The question may be funny, but that how we start our conversation. We start from yesterday, what challenges I faced during the day, what is with my health, she asks everything about me. We make a call daily. Some days there will be nothing to talk, still, we call and be online.

Without her phone call, my day would be empty. I cannot be a child on that day. I am a mother and need to take care of a family. When I call her, I become a child again, who needs pampering.  Especially when you are a young mother you need her the most. Not only for suggesting the parenting tips, but to hear you, to pamper you.

I hope many of you can connect this point.

1. Her voice will be soothing, whatever your mood is: 

Did you ever feel when you are away from your mother and when she calls it feels like a tight hug from her.  At times you don’t need anything except her presence. These morning calls can fill up that.

2. Gets pampered: 

 No one in your own home will ever pamper you as a child. You need to fulfil your responsibilities as a mother, wife and a daughter in law. You need to take all the responsibility in this house. The only place you can get breakfast on bed, coffee in the hand, can sleep until 8’O clock, without any disturbances.  Our mothers can do this by their voices and phone calls.

3. She will not judge you:

When I say “I did shout at baby today”  to any other person, immediately and unconsciously they judge me., but my mother won’t. When I had a bad day, or when I was so happy whatever my emotion was, she will not judge me.  She can bear my mood swings, but she will never sick of me.

4. You can be as free as you can:

As a mother, I need to play a different role, as an important member of the family I have another role. But the only place you cut off all your fake emotions and be free as you can.

5. Even she waits for your call:

When all her little ones leave the nest, your mother waits for your phone calls. A call from you will make her day.

No one can replace her place in your life. Even if you are old enough to handle a company or kids, you will definitely need her around you or on phone, to guide you, to pamper you, to scold you, to feed you.

Happy Motherhood!!

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WHAT I LEARNT AS MOTHER OF PRESCHOOLER

Motherhood journey is not a cakewalk, especially for new mothers. They learn a lot during the process, so did I. Being a mother of a preschooler is different from the mother of a newborn baby. The level of understanding, communication will be different.

Here are the top 10 things I learnt from my preschool going, daughter

1. Focus 200% on what you do: Kids involves in any given task with all their attention. My kid is not exceptional. If they were playing they play with full consciousness, involvement. I observed we, adults do without any involvement. Subconsciously we do most of the things in a day. Sometimes it makes me feel what is the difference between us and a machine? I can say kids live life more livelily than us. The first thing we need to learn from them.

2. Its okay not to know everything:  My ego never accepts if I don’t know something. But my kid just smiles and asks how to do, what to do something. Isn’t it a sweet characteristic we need to learn

3. Interested in New: New food menu? Excited? New plans? Excited! Change of toys? Excited. New school? Excited. I wonder how the kids accept change!! Some kids resist, but they definitely love the change. Did you observe when they were given a new toy? They have the zeal to learn new things. They will learn, observe the new things carefully and enthusiastically. They focus on learning. No fear of failure can threaten them. Change always enrich our lives.

4. Not forcing things, just relax: When kids got tired they go to sleep. When they were bored, they will stop doing it. If they don’t like a person, they will not smile. Kids don’t force things. 

5. Live in the moment: How many times we got tensed about tomorrow? How many time did we depress about the past? Kids don’t get tensed about tomorrow, doesn’t get depressed by past. They live today, in the present moment. I think it is the best quality to learn.

6. Friends and importance: Did you observe when kids fight; they will not hold grudges between them. In the next minute, they play again happily. Play happily; concentrate on the play, not the team members. The best lesson they ever teach you.

7. Being ON all the time: Right from the moment they open their eyes they will be active, and in a mood for exploring, learning, joy. Whatever happens, they will not stop being active all day. If parents told not to do anything, they may be silent or cry for some time, but they will divert their attention to other things and be happy again.

8. It is okay to cry at times: They don’t care about how others feel if they are crying. It is an outlet for their feelings. Medical studies have proved that crying for adults sometimes will relieve your stress. It is okay to cry (in the room of course)

9. Not being judgemental:  If I shout at my daughter and after a few minutes if I pamper her, she will not judge me for being rude. Actually, she forgets it. Even if I cry in front of her, she will not be judgemental. I can’t expect any adult to do the same if I react like this.

10. Ask questions without fear:  There were many incidents I didn’t ask questions, truly out of fear. In front of family, teachers’ friends, colleagues, shop keepers, I did not talk even if I had a question. “What will they think?”

“If it was a silly question, my friends will laugh at me”

“On the first point is this valid question?”

Like these there are many fears stopped me asking. But my daughter doesn’t care about how others feel if she had a question, she can shoot.

These are only a few things I learnt from her. When she came into my life there are so many things I learnt. Patience, preparedness, controlling my emotions whatnot. She made me completely a different person. She made me a good mother and I am proud to say it.

Happy Motherhood!!

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