Tag: family

General

Summer time funk

growingupmatters

It’s the time of the year I normally would really look forward to! Thankfully, a short trip here and there in the past few months were greatly cherished but the summer break has a different charm to it . It’s usually a more sought after one..one that is planned and mostly executed to perfection or even if there were imperfections, it made it that much more memorable. Families with school going children get this big window to step out for multi activities ranging from camps to summer workshops, to swimming,to exploring new interest areas, all in the touch and feel model!

This time, last year, we were reminiscing the many travels in the summer months that took us to many places/ countries which were all unique and exciting in their own way. Those many sights flooded our own individual visions and we went about on a trail talk..one thing led to the other and one landscape changed to the other in the blink of an eye! Oh! Those wondrous moments! The recalls were so much fun and the memory jogs outpaced our slow and inactive current lives. The kids brought forth the many clicks captured digitally as also the happy painstaking effort I took to paste those memories in physical form for the touch and feel factor!

This year is a deja vu of sorts all over again! There were many thoughts and ideas emanated from all about the many gorgeous sights the world has to offer and could be attempted after one long arduous year but alas! looks like it’ll be yet another long vacation at home. Nothing wrong with it though but the kids questioning has started about the repeat factor of last year and knowing fully well about the situation not under their , or for that matter, anyone’s control, there is still that secret desire to be out in the open somewhere for a sense of a break from the routine. Convincing our minds that it would not be so is all one can do at this point in time! The hope of a holiday , outside of home, is now deferred to yet another school year -end.

Meanwhile , the small but nonetheless wondrous joys about slow start to the day, lazy mornings, complete erratic schedules of daily living, no fixed meal times as well as meals, eat-sleep-repeat patterns as and when , screen time beyond comprehension with the online world the means to connect with pals, play games, engage in idle chit chat, some board games thrown in for good measure with siblings/folks, frequent trips to the kitchen to dish out bizarre combinations, attempts at culinary skill development, reading and attempting new ways of being in touch would all be the things the long summer break will be looked forward to!! The plans of stepping out to feast our physical/ mental states with “SOMETHING NEW” rolls over to a deferred date and time, unknown at this stage!

“Hope for a better tomorrow ” is something that will make us all feel cheerful and positive in our own ways despite the morbidity and our helplessness of many things and situations. So, let’s get going forward in these summers with all things cool, all foods the season has to offer, all the beauty of the greens and nature which , year on year, never fails to keep up with its dates, irrespective of the situation on ground and the excitement every holiday brings with it for things unknown, experiences unseen and the unfurling of the long days !!

General, Mindfulness l

Honestly, HONESTY it is!

growingupmatters

Best policy awards for years together and more to come! This wonderful trait is what really sets a person apart. A mere glimpse is enough to judge one on this quality. Of course, hugely substantiated by patterns of behaviour across a broad spectrum. And this pattern stays for most parts of a beings existence and living.

So much of this is inculcated by us to our young ones at a very young age. Very very clearly seen in the little ones who do justice to this. Huge importance ought to be given to value this trait as being one of the greatest reward for a decent tomorrow. The honest intention is but honestly seen in an eye to eye encounter with the lot. Kids who are really honest take this, at times, to an altogether different plane and even sometimes white lies with them becomes difficult to pull off!

There’s no better friend who doesn’t beat around the bush but says it clearly and honestly about you. When a casual meeting or a coffee outing is cancelled with an honesty factor thrown in, the bonds only grow stronger. There could be nice people who one is surrounded with but the ones who stay true to you are the ones whose eyes reflect an honest yes or no in situations. This is very clearly seen!

Honest feedback from well meaning folk is needed time and again for a reality check. Very recently, I almost sensed a sense of resentment towards me when I spoke honesty about what I felt when children are being coached/ trained by a professional and when the well meaning parent is in the sidelines throws their inputs unabashedly and very non- chalantly. My honest take on this was to back off from the core and be a bystander and to see how young ones blossom and learn on their own. It did meet glaring eyes at me but then , be it, my honestly really can’t be judged and if it is, I will be there to see the outcome on the kids at a later date. Yet again, I am almost losing my equation with an aquaintance turned friend in yet another situation where an outright honest answer to a rather personal query evoked another not called for situation! Am honestly ok at both the instances as it didn’t come as a contrived and thought of response; much rather it was my ingrained sense of being true that spelled out!

If you feel lousy, be honest about it, if the chips are down, honesty will bring them up again, if you don’t want to go out for dinner, speak the truth without mincing words, if kids have erred, no point in basking in false pride, if you don’t feel up to something, speak honestly, if the pudding is miserable say it! If all else fails, honesty will surely go out a long way and for the longest time! Come winter, even the tress shed their leaves honestly to pave way for new beginnings! So, stay true, stay honest and all else is really not worth it!

General, Parenting

BONDING & BEYOND

growingupmatters

Let’s all play B L O K U S! ” I want to see if today I can manage to fit in all my pieces ” in the big intelligent jigsaw that the game is all about. This is what all of us say when we get down to playing. A wonderful bond has been established between us , besides other ways, through this. It’s almost  like ” A family that plays together, stays together “. The many happy moments shared when we all peer into that board and exult or whine together is playfully joyful. In my mind, if parents of school going children fit in a weekend holiday board game in their schedules, it’s great! It’s a bond which would go beyond boundaries. In playing together, all those pent up emotions and some deep hidden thoughts all come out beautifully.

A ” fight to finish ” stuff..with a mind challenging game like SCRABBLE or even a catch and cook activity could draw out similar results. Anything that bonds could be practiced but the moot point here is the consistency of time and schedule . This, if done, really works wonders!

The investments done now will surely go beyond and we all could look back at all those pleasant, easy and happy moments. At this time, while the kids are still in ” common consensus mode“, my bonding with them is only growing! A couple of years down the line, I may look at the pile of those board games and bask in the glory of their bonding before I pass them on for future such bondings!