Motherhood

Outer Layers

Today’s post is in response to the prompt over at Daily Post about what our familiar clothes/ accessories say about us and the associations they hold.

When I pondered over the prompt, I was intrigued by my musings. So, here we go:

  • Spectacles

I wear pink spectacles. My eye wear has always been a little funky. A deliberate deviation from my sensible personality but very much in keeping with my love of bright, bold hues.

  • Chain 

A gift when I went to junior college, it has been my companion all through my twenties and a lucky charm in my third decade.

  • Polished toenails

I stopped growing my nails on my first job. Working long hours before a computer as a software tester chips is not exactly conducive with long nails. Once our bundle of joy was born, I stopped painting my nails as well. First it was my fright of the smell harming her, then it was an unnecessary distraction that kept her from nursing. 

But never once did I stop painting my nails. While I did stop reaching for the flashy shades after my teen years, I always kept my toe nails nice and colored. My mom painted my toes even when I was pregnant with T and could not reach them! 

  • Handkerchiefs

I always carry one. As a kid I would carry two, just in case the first got soiled. After T was born, baby wipes have been my handy hack for everything. Color stains, oily skin, dirty surfaces, they are perfect for everything. 

What do your comfortable clothes and favorite accessories say about you?

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 Travel & Adventure

Our road trip cum family vacation have begun which means I am doing loads of challenges:

  • Eating healthy- lots of treats consumed 
  • Getting vegetarian options. Since I do not eat eggs, meat, fish, chicken in any form; my choices are limited at restaurants. Then, I have to think about hitting all the food groups.
  • T’s food: I confess, she has had a few more treats than necessary.
  • Not being stressed- tough with sticking to a preschooler’s schedules
  • My lack of confidence in driving: with our rental car being enormous, it’s even more difficult for me.
  • T’s mild motion sickness: not too severe but enough for us to be cautious

But there are good parts too:

  • We mostly ate in. So, we got healthy food with portions I could control
  • We packed plenty of healthy snacks. Nuts and multi grain crackers have kept me from devouring too many unhealthy alternatives. (Yup, I did pack a lot of junk! 😐)
  • T sleeps in the car, so her early rising and afternoon naps are compensated. And she’s sleeping not too long past bedtime.
  • Since car times are also naps, T’s  health is ok. Touch Wood!
  • Bonus: I read a book, courtesy my SIL. Yayy!
  • All the places we went had at least one strict vegetarian option on the menu, that included protein and veggies. So far, so good!
  • I have driven our seemingly gigantic car and have lived to tell the tale! So, definitely not an issue of grave (pardon the pun) concern any longer! 

I also realized again that life is indeed full of little troubles and challenges that make us feel helpless, clueless and troubled! But in the same vein, life is filled with many moments of little joys and tiny triumphs! And these are what need to be cherished, remembered and drawn upon when we feel low or inadequate! 

On that optimistic note, Adieu until next week! Be happy and healthy! 

Photo Challenge

This week I am sharing my current challenge: 

Capturing photos without shadows

While it seema like a simple enough task, my constraints are:

  • My Camera is a phone – an iPhone, but still…
  • I have to take quick shots since I am minding our Active Preschooler who is always on the move
  • Soaking up the scenery and details for rehashing to my child and this blog keeps me preoccupied and not mindful enough of the angles and lighting

Here are some examples of the photos I took this week :

   
Please do share any helpful hints to take better pictures in the comments below: Would love to improve my skills! 

As ever, stay warm, stay happy!

Spare Moments

As a Sahm, who has been tracking her time, I realized I do have time: just in frequent, tiny bursts. Taking a lead from Laura Vanderkam’s tips to plan activities for leisure; I decided to be deliberate about how I spend my free time (or more appropriately freeze time)!

Like spare change, spare moments add up to so much! 

What better than this blog to monitor my efforts and share my tiny triumphs! And what better time than now?

Today, I got some ‘freeze time’, as my child napped on me. Getting up would wake my angel and cause a tantrum, and deprive me of some down time. So, I used that time wisely. Thanks to my stash of ebooks, I raced through Chandler Bolt’s bestseller Book Launch! Yayy! Win-win!

Hoping to inspire others to plan their spare moments and motivate myself to stay focused by sharing this publicly, Thanks for Reading! 

Do share your methods and techniques to use your spare moments in the comments below. I can always use handy tips!

Criticism- Flurry of Thoughts

Today’s post is a response to the Daily Prompt : Criticize

These are my thoughts in no order of importance, just the sequence in which they occurred to me!

  • My inner voice is my biggest critic.
  • Most of my girl friends and female cousins also suffer from having horrid inner voices. These can range from mildly unkind to debilitatingly harsh voices! Sad, but true!
  • Motherhood has made me sensitive and more prone to worrying. Hence, I can ‘sense’; sometimes incorrectly, criticism in feedback or advice!
  • I try not to be critical after becoming a mom! Since, I have realized that what works for one family might not for another. Let’s face it, Hubs and I don’t see eye to eye on loads of topics when it comes to parenting.
  • Related Confession: I do judge people who insist that Hubs or I follow their parenting techniques. Do you know if it suits my kid or our family ideologies and values? Is it necessary? Will it work? How do you know we have not tried it? I mean sharing your strategies is great, I shall keep it in mind but insisting we follow it is silly!
  • While social media is a boon and the various technologies to connect are simply splendid; it also comes with a flip side. That anyone and everyone now has a chance to criticize others. The same platforms that make it simple for me to stay in touch with my geographically separated family and friends also inflict criticism from random people I don’t know and who don’t know me either! Thankfully, I am not famous; so, I don’t have many trolls in my (virtual) life. Plus, I know how to use the ‘Block’ options. But it still feels unfair and upsetting. Throw in points 1-3 and it can make a woman really miserable.
  • Whenever I think of criticism, I always remember my mom’s advise on my homework. I need to critique a literary piece of work for my English class. I do not recall the title of the poem, just that it was a very sombre poem. Hence, I had put an overly critical and mostly negative assessment. [because i liked happy texts; still do!] My mom looked it over and asked me how I would feel if it had been my poem.

I changed it. Sure, I included the flaws but used the Sandwich technique to insert them between the merits. And that changed the tone of my essay entirely. I aced the homework but more importantly I learnt a life lesson- how to deliver ‘a critique’ : with careful choice of words and empathy. (Like my mom did with my essay)

  • Talking about great ideas, I recently read about the technique of ‘feedforward‘ on Marshall Goldsmith’s blog! What a fabulous idea! I am definitely choosing this strategy for advising, critiquing or giving feedback!

On that note, please leave your comments and suggestions for improving this blog and my writing. Feedforward please!