How to Handle Complains from School, Society, Friends?

Complaints are very odd situation for any mom, especially when it’s about our own kids !

I am not going into the thesis of handling complaints as I believe it’s differently handled with different situations. What works for one school may not apply to another school. So the best way is to be open, be guided by the one’s own set of values and never attempt to please others or reprimand your kid in front of others to satisfy them.

I had a parent who came up with a silly complaint about my son telling her daughter, that he does not like to play with girls!

Now, what do I tell her?  So I kept quiet and told her I will handle this later with my son who is only 4.5yr old. I did ask him the reason as to why he said so to her daughter. He answered ,” It’s because she not play what I want to play!”.

So, what goes in a child’s brain is something we will not know unless we discuss it with them. Hence no point reacting when someone comes with a complaint about my kid.

I am not one of those parents who do not think about the behaviour of the kids in public or private.

A few months back my elder son started crying whenever he had to get ready and go to the school! He is one child who loves to study. So when for a week he did not go happily to his school, I tried to find out his problem read more….

Baby Einstein for brain activity !!!!!

Its 12:30 pm, I have a meeting that is unavoidable and time bound hence cannot be postponed!
My kids already back from summer camp! All energetic and want my 100% attention like always!
SO the best I cud manage is keep the meeting at my house…..don’t like it much (Interruption …kids…phone…maids….door …friends….uff !) But beggars can’t be choosers! …So Multiprocessing is already happening… All are set to work that will leave me undisturbed for 2 hours!(…as if…in my dream huh! ) …………Meeting over, only 2 calls, and one interruption from my elder child to change over from MSEB to Generator …..that’s some achievement …!!!!!

Am I glad? No I am mighty pleased with my POA (plan of action) and its success !
Now the secret of keeping kids silent…not into Mahabharata mode….not into want attention…plus getting them creatively informed in my absence …. it had better be something I completely trust with my kids….( maids ….no way….can’t trust them…not even day care…)
I was looking for something on Amazon.com when I happened to discover this amazing stuff that changed my life pleasantly and brought a lot of peace to my maternal questioning , precisely 5 years back in Mumbai !
It’s called BABY EINSTIEN! A set of educational CDs / DVDs / VCRs. These one hours videos can manage to keep my kids singing , repeating after the voice over, dancing, learning..not fighting,….what a boon for any mother …!Baby Einstein was conceived by a mother who could not find appropriate educational videos in the US market !
read more…

Uncomfortable questions asked by kids !!!!!!!!!!!

Recently I was put in a tight spot by a friend. All thanks to my darling 4.5 year old’s ever so curious and imaginatively exploring mind.

My friend was a little uncomfortable when my son showed interest in her daughter. Like any curious boy he did not want to leave the room when her daughter was changing.
Her hubby scolded my son and asked him to leave the room! My son came home crying with the complaint. But he never mentioned the exact reason but mentioned that he was not allowed to stay in the toy room, ’cause for him it was the toy room that was more important than his daughter! I talked to my son and made him understand that since they were expecting guests, they did not want the toy room to be dirty and so the uncle had scolded him. Which was enough for the innocent little mind. He left happily to play again. I too forgot the incident as it was a no-brainer.

Two weeks later read more …

“Bring me an Orange Phone”

Airtel advertisement made me realize something very profound.

I was talking to a friend who lives in Delhi. My sons were playing around me when my younger son heard me mention delhi while I was conversing.

After a while my son wanted to talk to my friend urgently. He took the phone and after a general talk I heard him say … “Bring an orange phone” !!!

“no not red only orange color phone..”

“ok bye..”

Now my friend was quite amused with a very specific request of item being asked by a 4 yr old. But I told him definitely orange was not his favorite color, it was red that he preferred. And never has he shown any keen interest of phones. He is a die hard 4 wheel lover !!!

And that’s when it clicked to me….!!!

The new Airtel advertisement. Yes that was it!
The ad showed a small kid of my son’s age being reprimanded by his mom for being naughty. She had scolded him and not allowed him to play outside with other kids. The kid then sneaks out of the home with something in his hands and goes up on a terrace. He finds a secured place and sits down to reveal an “orange phone ” . He picks up the phone and say ” Papa aap dilli gaye, Mumma ne mujhe daanta. Aap Mumma ko daantna ” . Then he rushed back to his chair where he was asked to chill out by his mom.

His mom comes up and says ” Doodh pe ke baahar khelne ja sakte ho ”

He asks his mom ” Papa ka phone aaya tha ?”

And the mom just smiles…

The kid thinks for sure that his dad had called back and scolded his mom and asked him to send him to play

So there was the clue that we needed… for my son’s special and specific request for “an orange phone” …

Btw he is still waiting … for his “Orange Phone “

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The ant and the juice !!!!!!!!!!!!!

My elder son is only 5.5 yrs and is such a cleanliness freak that I wonder why did I ever have to tell him about washing up !

 

Yesterday I gave him  a glass of chilled orange tang. He looked inside the glass, only to find a small red ant floating in the juice. He promptly showed to me the ant in his juice. I dipped a finger and took the ant out, then gave back the glass to him.

He again looked inside the glass but returned it back saying that the juice was dirty now. I knew this would happen so was prepared for the same. So I  told him that the ant is very tiny and now its out of his glass, so he can drink it off.

But my son being my son, refused to digest this simple act that removal of the ant out of the glass meant his juice was now clean enough. He had his reason too. He told me what I normally tell my kids once they are back from outside in the home.  He said ” Mamma ! this ant must have been walking out side without any shoes. So when it came and got into my juice glass, all the dirt from its legs have washed into the juice ! So all the juice is now dirty too!!!!!”

Needless to say , I had no answer but to make another fresh glass of juice for him

Please click on the “HELP NOW” Its Free ! and rate the vedio. This will allow my sponsors to provide funds to the NGO who provide clean water to poors. ! Please !

My Kids and food !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My babies made my day yesterday. I normally have to sit one hour for each meal with both the kiddos every day. There are days when I am sitting patiently, telling them stories or they telling me stories. There are days when I am screaming like a witch at them, especially when there is vegetarian food on the menu.

My kids think food means chicken, mutton, fish, prawns or eggs.  Paneer is also acceptable by the young HHs. The days I make veggies only, I have to make sure I have no meeting lined up, no workshop to attend or take and definitely no calls. I am shouting screaming threatening for an hour ! At the end I do manage to make them eat what I wish but at the cost of their lov for me and my guilt towards them !

But today was different.

My friend Arun, forwarded a mail to me. I had tears in my eyes watching a kid eat from the garbage ! There was another picture of a kid drinking water along with a dog from the same puddle !

I thought of making a positive impact and use of this mail by telling a story .  So once we were back from school, my kids one 5 yr old another 3.5 yr were too eager to hear and see the picture of the boy who did not eat food ! And the kid who threw food and wasted water.

After watching the powerpoint presentation, I could see my kids watching seriously, with their expression changing. They felt sad and my elder one was convinced that no one should throw food or water, and that he will not trouble his mom any longer. I don’t know how long it will last.

At the dinner time, I was hoping to see the effect of the mail on my kids eating habit and change .

My elder son ate his food with one coaxing. I was mighty pleased and glad that the expectant result was seen.

But I was not prepared for the effect on my younger kid !

He ate a bite and threw away the whole food into the dustbin !  Shocked and angry, I was upset that my younger son was so not sensitive ! Anyways, I had to question him and make him understand the effect of bad deed done by him. So I called him and made him sit with me. We call this type of sessions as “Talk Time”, where they have to talk out their problems and anything in their minds, without me judging them! 

So I asked him the reason for his throwing away the food into the garbage bin! He answered, ” Mumma ! I threw away all the food, so that read more….