The Mommy dashboard - 10 Things for the Happy Baby

So a friend who is a new Mom to two beautiful twin girls asked me how do you do it ? How is it that your enthu cutlets are popping up almost always and you are  ready to take a plunge into something new for your toddler and i'm like this paranoid 'Mom already fearing the 'terrible two s' and 'tantrum three s' and thinking about how im going to handle all of that with two babies and the household and everything.  What? I laughed it out  yep thats me that was my reaction say it again 'terrible two s' and 'tantrum three s' how on earth do you even know about these terms btw so this friend s twin girls are just 6 months old and shes already figuring out the best playschool for which the forms and admissions happen only once in Bombay and shes preparing for  June already  :) pressure pressure pressure June just brings this school pressure!!

I know I know how it is to be a new Mom and handling two babies - oh my gosh, but i told her  everyday is a different day we all have our ups n downs and get drained out by the end of the day of course  i'am not at my best always either (although i try to) i have my baby anxieties & worries too but trust me when i see this little sunshine s whimsical ways and funny moves my day just gets brighter and better So here s my Happy Mommy Dashboard for my dear friend :)

1)Most importantly Avoid Information overload - Trust me whilst its great to have a knowledge on everything but a Japanese client once told me "I know nothing about everything" Its best to do your basic homework thats all please do not use a hover glass on those fat text books for heaven sake Mommies. Oh how can i forget 'mother google' we all want to 'google' on almost everything and why not we live in this gadget world of 4G, touch screen, tablets hmmm whilst im quiet tech savvy but i deliberately avoid information overload. Just give it a birds eye view thats enough trust me the more you get deeper into a subject matter the more the bulbs in your brains start flashing in the wrong or negative direction. To me terrible two s never existed bcos i dont believe in it its negative word for me so ive never grumbled about it simple :)

2) Lets try and be the cup cake ourselves - A Happy child is a reflection of a Happy Mom. So when people ask me don't you get drained out all day with a toddler at home or the best question 'oh my god' howcome you are a full time Mom what do you do the whole day.Okay now these are questions from people who don't have kids so honestly  I don't choose to answer this question but my reply is if your battery is not charged and you are not on a high you are going to have a cranky and irritated baby/toddler so get out there burn off the energy while outdoors, re - live your childhood cycling days, swimming days, swing days, park days and let there be sunshine. Seeing a happy Mom a child ought to play happily and after burning off some energy the tired thing is ready for a quick shower, meal and sleep. Watching a Baby sleep is a feast to a human eye trust me!!

Happy Mommy drive = Happy Babby!

3)Do not get pressurised on early playschools- I remember this Mom at the park back in Bombay who was watching me and sunshine play at the park asked me 'which school' instead of asking me 'whats his name' or a simple hello smile - No she had a frown eyebrow  look ~ ~ nevertheless i smiled back saying  hes only 22 months she was like my son went to playschool when he was 15 months.. so what do i do dude was my expression after 5 minutes she followed me to the see saw area and said it is very good for social and emotional skills of the child. 'Okay i see' - 'Thanks but no thanks' was my reaction 'Information overload again' aint it? How on earth will a 15 month handle socialising skills my 15 month was a busy crawler he never walked till he was 17 months he had his own busy world and the world was his Mommy Daddy and grandparents thats all and so be it and what about emotional skills im sure the seperation anxiety and shock the kids get by visiting these play schools as early as 15 months make them super cranky and hence the reference to 'emotinoal skills' phew!!I never sent the sunshine to school till he was 2.5 years (that too bcos i was getting back to work and wanted to prepare him)

4)Pamper(s) Diaper) the Baby - So you know the world loves to give you free advice and this other Mommy friend told me "if your 1 month old child cries do not pick him up bcos when youl get back to work he will find it tough bcos he is used to your arms and used to being carried and wont get independant"

Oh Boy what a solid research white paper is that. A zero month old baby trying to attain independance hmmm i totally turned down the advice and i believe whilst most moms debate on which diaper to use and which rash cream to use please spend time to  pamper pamper and only pamper your little one. carry them always they get a sense of security only from their Moms, Dads and other members at home. If they are cranky there is a reason for it so don't let them stay there independantly :) pick the little thing up comfort him,pacify him. Hug him, kiss him and say i love you at least 5 times in a day.

5)Do not turn down Grand parents advice and refer to it as old school - If an old aunt is visiting your zero month old baby and excitedly gets sugar to feed your lil one its OK. a small granule of sugar just touched to his lips will do no harm to your baby in fact hel surely have a sweet tooth and will welome all that porridge with extra sugar and added ghee when you start feeding him the solids. Gripe water it is - remember the old classic Indian ad Woodwards gripe water - "Kay zala Baal radath hota, woodwards dila tu lahan hota teve mee tula hech dile". Yes gripe water is the best for a cranky kid who has a gas trouble and in the west especially gripe water it is in every household. But since my kid was born in India and there was some information overload again on gripe water not being recomended by peadeatricians (some not all )and instead its better visit a doc blah blah so we waited for one whole cranky night to end and waited to show him to the paed. Keep the gripe water handy!!

6)Give the crawling baby some 'me' time and let him explore his world -  All kids are born musicians and drumist. let them crawl into your kitchen open those cabinets and throw some tumbler down on the floor they simply enjoy the sound. if you are busy making a meal and they follow you to the kitchen and wait underfoot just put them at the side and give them a steel vessel and spoon these guys can beat the drums. My son had mastered the art of opening the drawers and everyone around freaked out 'his fingers -  his hands'. Relax let them figure it out how to open it they are gentle themselves, and watch it when they do it but please  'DO NOT SCARE THEM'  I invested in some drawer guards only after i figured out his visits to the kitchen got too frequent to strum a guitar or beat the drums, yes child proof your kitchen and house with accesories but never say NO. Let them pull out their grandparents spectacles, let them fidget with the remote controls of television, (im talking about crawling ones here, the other disciplined Mommies are going to freak out reading this haha)for the babies its all so new just like the way we drop our jaws and we excitedly start fidgteing with the lovely clothes we see  on those manequins at our favorite shopping outlet ;) its the same with those little ones too. 

7) Books, books, books - I read yes i read a lot to my kid sometimes i overdo it i actually got a kiddo size globe and started explaining to him the earth is round in shape its made of land and water he spinned the globe like a ball and threw it off :) Just go easy with the books in Indian terms i would say 'Studies'. Yes my best friend s daughter who is 4 and she has another 7 month old is grumbling that she is drained off and does not give time to her 4 year old s 'lesson time'. haha i can only laugh and i have no words. What on earth do you want to teach a 4 year old and that too in the summer vacation. Is'nt that school which is on im sure for the last 3 years all 5 days in a week throughout the year enough? Oh dear Oh Boy!! But she says sorry i cant be as chillaxed as you :) nor am i those craft Moms. Well neither am I but havent you heard of pinterest cummon when you can download watsapp and facebook on your cell phone download a pinterest and what amamzing ideas for craft i love it!!!If you are indoors spend sometime re-doing your toddlers room rotate the toys, invest in a activity table let him build lego blocks there, do one DIY craft with him ( we did a cute teapot, tea cup and a cup cake) let him mess his hands with some poster colors,some crayons time, visit the library, read lots of animal picture books, make some greeting cards for the grandparents (we made one for his great grand mom she was overwhelmed), introduce some water games while bathing like i put these turtles and fishes in a tub and hed keep putting it in and pulling it out and say 'swim swim' :) :)

DIY kitchen craft!

DIY scribble me!!

The Happy reader !

8)Visit the Temple - Kids are born spiritual and its lovely to see them calmly stand and watch the Gods and observe each and everything we do they mimic you so well,they will ring the bell, chant a few prayers and start singing all the aarti songs aloud in their 'Jay Jay' way. They are blessed by the almighty and we are blessed to have them. For sunshine s vacation this time at my folk s place a cute little temple next to the park had two tortoise walking their way slowly and it was a super feast time at the temple for this little thing watching those cute little turtles lazying around and we'd go there everyday after our park times sometimes opinons would differ it could be the temple first then the park (maybe) whatever the boss says!

9)Wake me up - Wake up an hour  earlier (hehe im still trying this) finish the morning errands, and sip a cup of coffee by your coffee table wait for the little thing to wake up or wake him up in the cuddly way if he has a schedule trust me nothing can be more wonderful than a beautiful morning smile from your little one. I actually named him 'sunshine' (my blog goes sunshineinmylife.blogspot.com) bcos when he was really little he would give this morning sun smile actually a 'toothless grin' heeee and we named it sunshine
smiley!!

10)The Connect - Be a role model to your baby -heard that? To me it totally means staying connected!! even in our sleep the two of us sub consciously are aware we are there for each other. The first thing when he wakes up he calls out to me and i know the first thing i wake up i have to see him. @ connect is a wonderful feeling and it puts me on cloud 9 bcos i love the way he worriedly looks out if he doesnt see me for a minute. To me connect also means doing a lot of drama i make up a lot of stories to connect two and two and make it five instead. Hes in love with bugs the ladybird, butterfly, ants, caterpillar any creepy crawly things bcos hes been seeing a lot pictures of the same in his books. His Maasi (my sister) got this idea of deliberately putting some sugar cubes at the window so that real ants come in and oh boy what a lovely idea was that so we had these little ants marching and this little thing s eyes stuck on to it for hours together and a lot of talking & stories on those ants :)

I live by this - my slogan for the connect!!

Babies are these brand new gift god can ever send to this world. Hence they are this huggable,
kissable lovable bundle of joy!! Happy Parenting and Stay Happy to bring out the happy baby that came out of your womb!!

Lots of Love
Sunshine s Mommy