Silent Sunday: My Sunday Photo : 03/30/2014

We dedicated an hour for the earth. Look at our candle burning in darkness. :)

10+6 things I learned from my preschooler

1. Ask for what you need - more importantly  PERSUADE!

You can not persuade someone to do something you want unless you keep asking. Persuasion is not your cup of tea if you tend to give up. Ask in different ways, different times, use various tricks, end of the day you've to get the thing done. Persuasion is the ONLY key!

2. Walk the Talk, you've been radared

Have you ever heard "But Mum, you said not to do this the other day and you're doing it?". I am not ashamed to admit that I have been there and I was alarmed. Everything I tell her has been transferred to her play dolls while on a role play, and of course registered in her mind too.
They take after you bit by bit. They take you as their role models and try to imitate whatever you say or do. They are more curious on conflicts in our words and dos; finding faults out is easier thing to do. So, walk the talk or don't talk at all! 

That was unexpected...

Life is full of surprises

Every so often I surrender

Deep down I whisper

Oh, that was so unexpected!

Joys and woes

Ups and downs

Dreams and despairs

Laurels and losses 

Pats and whacks

Cunning conundrums

Sneaky solutions

Life is rife with unexpected

So often I whisper

Oh, that was unexpected! 

Books we Read :: Vegetable And Fruity Stories | A Trick For A Trick

Most of the books we reviewed in Princess Liya are either by international authors or popular by its title. However, last time when we visited a book fair at Liya's school, I stumbled upon some Vegetable and Fruity stories. I never came across these books before.

Often, I look for moral stories to read with Liya because I find her taking the lessons seriously and putting them into practice. Moral stories do inspire them a lot more than we imagine. Looks like the book hasn't gone very popular in India, I don't know why. We liked it and already read it umpteen times. :)

Make Pompoms at home (no clover needed)

I said before,

I don't like spending money on crafts!

So, we use things homemade

as much as possible.

Does your child love pompoms?

Mine, of course!

We tried making some at home.

It isn't bad to try. 

Here you go.

The good old way!

Picture 1: All You need 

A cardboard box, a scissor and yarn

LOL Moments : How does an elevator work?

Mum: "Look at your plants Liya. They are drying up because you don't water them. And see mine, they are growing fast because I water them everyday."

Liya: (Glancing at the dough that was getting kneaded) "Why do you add water to the flour?"

Mum: "So that it's wet and makes good dough to roll in. "

Liya: "But, that doesn't grow even if we water it, right?"

## Convincing mum that things not always grow with watering. ##

My Sunday Photo / Silent Sunday : 03/23/2014

Dad was on a trip, girl missed him terribly. As always, she made a cute card. 

I love this kid. At 4.5, I don't think I was this imaginative!

Project 365 :: Week 12

Day 75: Butter chicken - Had some guests over breakfast and I cooked butter chicken curry to go with rice pathiris. 

Never before I made butter chicken at breakfast because it takes a lot of time to cook. Little girl said me "Mama, this is not a breakfast curry. This is meant to eat at dinner. " 

Fun in the pool

Dad is away for a day and two nights...

It's girls' time again in our household.

 “I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."

Home Remedies for Kids :: Tonsillitis

Occasionally, Liya gets a tonsillitis attack especially when there is an apparent drift in the weather. There are plenty of home remedies you find in the internet or learn from grannies. However, there is one single home medicine I tried, tested and found really helpful. 

All you need is -  a cup of warm milk and a 1/4 spoon of turmeric powder. Adding a pinch of black pepper powder works wonders, if your child can stand its taste. 

*Note to Self*

A new bud on our rose plant -yay!

Created by Liya - This Week

Yet Another flower and garden... :)

10 things - learnings as a WM

Learnings from my life as a working-mum!

1. Take the blame, trash it and move on
2. Family first, work comes after
3. BALANCE is the keyword
4. Don't get infected if you are true to your conscious 
5. Parenting is a joint responsibility
6. There is nothing like "getting time", you make it
7. What matters is a happy life and a house that's lived in
8. Choice you made- weighing down your strengths and limitations- will not make you regret
9. People judge you because they see you from their shoes, not yours
10. Love everything that you do, hence your twin career!

Books We Read : Tick Tock Clock (Telling the Time - part 2)

You probably know that we are learning to tell the time and might have seen the activity we did here. We are reading books and doing some worksheet exercises to reinforce our learning.

The book we chose to discuss is Tick Tock Clock (My First I Can Read).

Why this book?  It is an "I can read- level -1" book. Easy for Liya to read with mum.
[With level 1 books we have reached on an agreement - she will start with title, mum will read couple of lines, then girl will read couple of lines and it continues.]

Oh, yes! Too much of negotiations happening in our household these days!

Egg carton recycling craft ideas!

Thanks all for your overwhelming response on our project from the last week,
 "Telling the Time". 
L loves butterflies and so we decided to make a butterfly with egg carton. 

lol Moments...

Scene 1:

Girl: Mama, why did you name it princessliya.com not liya.com?

Mum: Because you are my little princess, sweetie! 

Girl: But Mama, do you know, I don't have any princess dress as of now. Why don't you buy some?

<< Now mum understood why the question was asked. >>

Silent Sunday 03/16/2014

Linking with MySundayPhoto and Silent Sunday

Project 365 :: Week 11

*Note to Self*

Looking pretty, huh?

* Girl and Dad reading a book on rocks. * 

Girl: What's Gold, Papa?  

Mum intervenes: You are probably the first child from Malabar (North Kerala) to ask such a question ever. 

<< Malabar is known for its high volume gold consumption, especially within the Muslim community. If you walk into a typical Malabar wedding you are guaranteed to see the bride immersed in kgs of gold ornaments. 

I named Muslims here, because I am a Muslima from Malabar, totally frustrated at how this habit has rooted in my society while Islam never encourages it. Most of them know it, however, end of the day what matters to many is status/prestige/show off. Isn't that ironical? *Not forgetting that there are exemptions, I just said the predominant side of the story.*  >>

10 Things this Week

What did I accomplish this week?

Organizing L's bookshelf

Catalogue for L's mini library

Doctor visit

Visited bank and submitted long pending docs

Shed some pounds (2 Kgs, yay!)

Cleaned L's soiled shoes - long pending!

Haircut for L *She got a tomboy look now!*

Spoke to an old best pal- long pending!

Baked Rainbow Cup Cakes

Blog post everyday through the week.

Happy Thursday! 

Learning to Tell the Time!

Learning to tell the time is quite challenging for a preschooler. Moreover, unlike us, our children are more adapted to digital devices at such an early age that they really do not find enough motivation to tell the time in an analog clock. Whenever Liya wants to find out time she pulls out my phone or tab and reads it out. That's where I told her we will make a clock that would help her read time in an analog clock...

You may read the part 2 here.

Here you go!

Playing with Play-Doh

Modeled by Liya without any assistance! 

What are they?

Art exhibition!

 Liya's school held an art exhibition to display all the art work done by little ones through the academic year. Sharing some moments from the show.

Loved them all especially the glass painting....

You know you parent a preschooler when...

...every discussion in your household goes around standing lines and sleeping lines.

Liya said, I saw A's granddad's office. "Where is that?" asked mum. "Super easy! Get out from my school,  you go on a sleeping line for sometime, then take a standing line. On the right you see his office". All clear, did you get it?

L: My friend 'G' wants to come to our home and so I explained her the way. But her mom is not understanding it. "

How did you explain the way...? Asked mum.

"From the school go on sleeping line, then take a semi circle and go on a sleeping line again. I will be waiting outside the complex."!!! 

No wonder G's mum did not understand the way!

"Mumma, could you please make "sleeping line pasta" today?" She meant penne pasta!!!

P.S: Sleeping line, standing line, slanting lines, curves etc. are used extensively by preschools to help kids develop prewriting skills. Many schools begin with pattern writing, tracing etc. before getting children write. This link might be interesting to you, if you parent a preschooler.

Silent Sunday :: 03/09/2014

Linking with 

Project 365 :: Week 10

Day 61: In laws left for Kerala. At the railway station to see them off. 

Celebrating International Women's Day...

Yesterday, Liya came back from school saying "Momma, we celebrated women's day. You know all girls are women." lol!

At home we did some crafts based on women's day.

Drawings this Week!

Garden...!

*Note to Self*

Image Courtesy

10 things

I asked Liya what are the things she likes about her Mum! Reply came instantly and here you go!

 The 10 things in her-own words and in the same order.

She cooks food for us

She hugs and kisses me

She plays with me

Doing crafts with me

She is my friend

She sometimes sleeps with me

She reads stories for me

She teaches me Malayalam letters

She draws pictures 

She took me to zoo

I think, once in a while we must try to listen to our kids on how they feel about us. There might unfold interesting things which we never ever thought of..:)

I asked her what she doesn't like in her momma the answer was quite interesting.  "I don't like it when momma stands beside me quietly..." Now, I can't recall when I did that. However, I am surprised at the way she registered it in her mind. 

Happy Thursday!

Read Salma's 10

Muddy Play!

Little hands are preparing egg shells to "feed" the plant...

Then setting the soil mixed with organic fertilizer

And exploring roots of the sapling 

Planted the sapling

"Fed" with egg shells and water! 

Done for the day...!

Linking with Let Kids be Kids

  

At Botanical Garden with grandparents!

P.S: All flowers in the collage are shot by little girl..:) 

Linking with Mosaic Monday!

Silent Sunday :: 03/02/2014

Project 365 :: Week 9