Celebrate every woman in your family

 

                        The epitome of existence          "Feminism isn't about making women strong. Women are already strong. It is about the way the world perceives that strength."                                                                                                                         ~ G. D. Anderson

          Women need to be celebrated every day. They are the reason of our existence.  Every woman has distinctive qualities which are unique and classy. The various roles played by a woman are priceless and done with perfection. But have you ever wondered when, why, and how did this day come into existence?

                                 

The kick off

In 1908, more than 14000 women marched through New York City demanding shorter working hours, better pay and the right to vote. A year later, the government of America declared the first National Woman's Day.
Ms. Clara Zetkin, advocate for women's rights suggested to make this day International during the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen. 

Why 8th March 

The date when Russian women's strike (demanding right to vote, bread and peace) commenced on the Julian calendar, was Sunday 23rd February. This day in the Gregorian calendar was 8th march - and that is when it is celebrated today.

The Colors

Purple. green and white are the colors of International Women's day (IWD). Purple signifies justice and dignity. Green symbolizes hope. White represents purity. 

The Purpose

IWD is the day to mark and celebrate women's achievements in various fields, educate and increase awareness for gender parity, appreciate the progressing women and fundraise for female focused charities.

2023 - Focus area

Every year, IWD has a designated theme which helps to bring attention to important issues or topics. The United nation's theme for 2023 - DIGITALL : Innovation and technology for gender equality. This theme aims to recognise and celebrate the contribution women and girls are making to technology and online education.

Let them get bored

 

Today when we get bored, we have or know lot of things to do like:

•      We read books, articles, newspapers and so on.
•          We go for a walk or go cycling
•          Some of us love to write. So we even pen down our views / thoughts.
•          Some of us even dance on loud music.
•         Some make such beautiful paintings in their boredom.
•         Some invent new recipes which are so delicious. Many more such activities that all of us indulge into.

BUT,

Ever wondered what our kids will do if they were in our place?

The answer is: they would either watch TV or play on iPads, mobiles, tablets and other gadgets.

Why is it necessary to always plan something or the other for our child? Why is it that we have to think whether they will like or dislike a particular activity?

In holidays, I have seen most of the moms sign up their kids for summer camps. In spite of attending 6 to 8 hours of school, yet they enroll kids for all sorts of classes. Upon asking few of them, I have most common replies:

1.       I am a working mom. I don’t have extra time to spend it with her. So its better she goes for some activity to “keep herself busy”.

2.       I don’t have the patience to entertain him for 4 hours until he goes to bed.

3.       He gets bored after coming from school. So its better he goes for some classes.

Just think this way. Years back, when we were young or in our teens, did our parents think the same way as we do today? We ALSO GOT BORED. But it is during this boredom, we learnt to grow.

·       When we went out for family gatherings, we also got bored. But we learnt to interact with everyone whether elder or younger than us.

·       There were days when we could not step out of the house and we got bored. But we knew what all games or activities to look for at home.

·       I used to finish having dinner well before time than my cousins. But I had to wait until they finished theirs so that we could play again. I got bored waiting for them. This gave me a chance to talk to others around and helped me to kill my boredom.

·       Our parents did have a had social life. They too had friends and relatives coming over. They would get busy with them. We got thoroughly bored. BUT we learnt to go in the room and play some game on our own.

I am not comparing full fledged between us and our kids. Yes, we have moved forward a lot but we need to think seriously on this. If we don’t let our child get bored and then how is he/ she going to be able to decide what all can he/she do to pass by their boredom. It is high time that we stop entertaining them all the time. We must stop planning their days and weeks in advance.

It is absolutely OK for kids to get bored. Boredom is one of the important factors of our lives. It is when we get bored; we get into a thinking process. Boredom is scientifically linked to creativity. It is the wandered mind which helps people to “think out of the box”. Research has shown that boredom can inspire the mind to have a creative solution to most of the problems. Since, most of us don’t like to get bored for too long, we tend to get motivated to seek out new goals and experiences.

Cool drinks to beat the heat!!

Summer has begun. Most of the kids have school going on. Here are few drinks  which can save kids from dehydration :

1. Sweet lime water with a pinch of salt.
2. Jaggery water with little bit of lemon in it( for sweet n sour taste)
3. Saunf (aniseed) water
4. Glucon D water. Nowadays many flavours are available for kids to experiment and enjoy.
5. Coconut water can also be given.
6. Mint lemonade - Add crushed mint leaves to the sweet lime water for 10minutes and then strain out the leaves.
7. Watermelon lemonade - In a mixer, cut watermelon into small pieces, remove the seeds, add lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Blend it n serve.
8. Smoothie - This is every child's favorite. Cut 2 to 3 different types of fruits and blend it in a mixer. Add orange squash. It is just yummy..
9. Pink Panther - IN a glass of water, add 2 to 3 tsp of rose syrup and 1 tsp lemon juice. Mix it well and serve.
10. Our favorite since our childhood, RAW MANGO JUICE or famously knows as 'aam panna'. This can also be tried with kids.

* If you donot have any of the above ingredients then can soak orange skin in water for 2 to 3 hours and serve it chilled. The orangey flavour in drink will be enjoyed by the kids.
This drink can be drunk instead of regular water.

My above drinks are water based since it is safest with younger kids. But if you serve aerated drinks to your kids then cold drinks can be added too..

I have tried most of the drinks with Pratham and he enjoys them thoroughly. Sometimes with fancy snacks, he also carries these fancy drinks to school.