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Soothing Hyperactivity When Ayesha’s (name changed) mother was carrying her, she would joke, “The baby is always doing karate and gymnastics in my womb.” Since she was a newborn, she would burst into a loud and long cry for situations wherein most other babies would remain calm and contented. A two-year-old Ayesha would get punished in school almost every second day. When her mother asked her why she was meted with time-outs so many times, she replied in a singsong voice, “Oh… sometimes I was running around and didn’t listen to the teacher.” She would continuously lose things in school and forget to do her homework. Come bedtime and she would never want to sleep. Even if she dozed off after midnight, she would wake up at the crack of dawn, demanding that she either watched TV or was sent to the terrace to feed the crows. Ayesha was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). She was extremely intelligent but couldn’t concentrate in class and remember lessons...

  A Child's Garden of Verses: Selected Poems by Robert Louis Stevenson   The gardener does not love to talk. He makes me keep the gravel walk; And when he puts his tools away, He locks the door and takes the key.   Away behind the currant row, Where no one else but cook may go, Far in the plots, I see him dig, Old and serious, brown and big.   He digs the flowers, green, red, and blue, Nor wishes to be spoken to. He digs the flowers and cuts the hay, And never seems to want to play.   Silly gardener! summer goes, And winter comes with pinching toes, When in the garden bare and brown You must lay your barrow down.   Well now, and while the summer stays, To profit by these garden days O how much wiser you would be To play at Indian wars with me! #garden, #gardening, #botany, #flora, #flowers, #plants, #trees, #gardener, #green, #chlorophyll, #summer, #winter, #seasons, #RobertLouisStevenson, #poem, #poetry...

  ‘I have read just a very few books. The book that I’ve read recently and loved….I can’t quite remember..’: Katrina Kaif This is an excerpt from an interview with Katrina that I had taken in the past. There’s a Barbie modelled after you. Not all women are as tall and have a slim figure as you; so do you think that it’s a good idea that Barbies modelled after petite and curvy women have been introduced in the market as well? The statement that you made that not all women have a figure and height like me is incorrect. What you wish to achieve out of your body is your own choice. Everyone can do what makes one happy. Because of the profession in which I am, the clothes I have to wear and the kind of characters that I like to essay; I’m trying to achieve a certain amount of fitness at this point in my life. It’s not that I’ll do so for my entire life. I am however working very hard on it right now. This isn’t necessarily my natural disposition. It’s a decision to a sacrifice yo...

    Bright Star By John Keats Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art—            Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night   And watching, with eternal lids apart,            Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,   The moving waters at their priestlike task            Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,   Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask            Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—   No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,            Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,   To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,            Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,   Still, still to hear her...

  Reiki for kids When one thinks of holistic practises like yoga, Reiki and meditation; one generally associates adults with them. The truth is that holistic practices may start at an early age. Reiki is an alternate form of healing that involves transferring positive energy or chi through one’s palms. Those who have faith in Reiki, think that a child can benefit from it when she/ he is in an embryonic state in her/ his mother’s womb. All a pregnant lady has to do is place a hand on her tummy to transfer the soothing Reiki energy to her unborn baby- it is believed by Reiki practitioners that this helps in giving birth to a calm baby. According to Reiki master and counselling psychologist Aarti Gupta, a child can learn Reiki from when she/ he is four or five years old. She simplifies the concept of Reiki through fun and games for the kids. She explains about the seven chakras or energy vortexes in the human body by making the kids colour the chakras with crayon colours that ma...

  Solange Loe-Sack-Sioe   Dear oh deer   Cute little deer with big brown eyes Lost in the woods , mama couldn’t find. She was just going for a walk Little did she knew that she would get lost Hypnotized by everything little deer couldn’t stop the walking Suddenly mama deer was out of sight little B ambi was struck with fright Mama deer searched whole day long But she knew she had to be strong After hours of agony What did she see? Her little dear deer under a tree Big silver tears were in her eyes As there were in Bambies big brown eyes. Let me hold you my sweet little deer in my arms close to me. Dear oh deer. Shell   #deer, #fawn, #forest, #nature, #zoology, #woods, #dear, #Bambi, #forest, #nature https://pixabay.com/photos/fawn-petit-deer-nature-animal-4467291/ : Picture courtesy: Image by  Sébastien AUTREUX  from  Pixabay  

  The importance of thinking positively during pregnancy " Giving birth should be your greatest achievement, not your greatest fear ." -Jane Weideman. “Congratulations, you are pregnant.” These words overjoy many and some may feel euphoric. Pregnancy isn’t a disease. It’s a journey towards motherhood. Some may worry during these nine months, maybe pointlessly, often the scary predictions may not materialise.   Googling may throw up an unending list of hazards during pregnancy and what birth complications a child may have. Believing that the worst will happen is detrimental. Psychiatrist Dr.Dayal Mirchandani says, “The expectant mother needs to understand that pregnancy is very normal. There are books to help you to think positively during pregnancy. In tribal regions of Africa, women work right through their pregnancy and go back to work right after childbirth instead of needlessly worrying about their pregnancy. The stress hormone affects the wellbeing of the baby to...

  The Lamb BY  WILLIAM BLAKE Little Lamb who made thee           Dost thou know who made thee  Gave thee life & bid thee feed.  By the stream & o'er the mead; Gave thee clothing of delight, Softest clothing wooly bright; Gave thee such a tender voice, Making all the vales rejoice!           Little Lamb who made thee           Dost thou know who made thee             Little Lamb I'll tell thee,          Little Lamb I'll tell thee! He is called by thy name, For he calls himself a Lamb:  He is meek & he is mild,  He became a little child:  I a child & thou a lamb,  We are called by his name.          Lit...

  How to teach your child beyond bookish knowledge “A for apple, B for ball and what is C for?” “C for clever,” replies a child. The teacher replies, “No, c for cat. You need to choose something you can feel or touch. How can you draw ‘clever’? But you can draw a cat.” The education imparted in schools is mainly bookish knowledge. Many kids are averse to this mundane and boring way of imparting education and are craving for a way out of it. Rabindranath Tagore- Nobel Laureate, novelist, writer and poet quit going to school and opted for homeschooling instead. He found school torturous as mundane knowledge was imparted. His father appointed tutors who helped him to develop a thinking mind. Though he never went to school, his literary works are now taught in school. If you are contented with the fact that your child is getting full marks in school think again. There’s a vast expanse of knowledge lying beyond bookish knowledge which should be imparted to every child. Inste...

  Frogs by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts Here in the red heart of the sunset lying, My rest an islet of brown weeds blown dry, I watch the wide bright heavens, hovering nigh, My plain and pools in lucent splendour dyeing. My view dreams over the rosy wastes, descrying The reed-tops fret the solitary sky; And all the air is tremulous to the cry Of myriad frogs on mellow pipes replying. For the unrest of passion here is peace, And eve's cool drench for midday soil and taint. To tired ears how sweetly brings release This limpid babble from life's unstilled complaint; While under tired eyelids lapse and faint The noon's derisive visions—fade and cease. #frog, #green, #amphibian, #nature, #croak, #sunset, #weeds, #heavens, #sky, #soil, #nature, #pool, #dream, #heaven, #noon, #weed, #rosy, #zoology, #animal, #passion https://pixabay.com/photos/frog-pond-garden-pond-water-lily-2195531/ : Image by  4924546  from  Pixabay  

  Preparing your child for the first day in school (In future this may once again be a possibility. There is talk about admitting a child to school when she/ he is older though. I had written this in 2016.) Most album pictures of a child’s first day in school show a teary-eyed child dressed in a brand new uniform. This in turn may make us ponder as to why a child may find the first day in school terrifying. It is but natural for a child to have reservations about the first day in school. Psychologist Chrisann Almeida says, “ Children who attend preschool from an early age are less likely to feel petrified of the first day in school. Otherwise, separation anxiety from the parents is quite natural on this day.”   A child perhaps may be prepared to look forward to the first day of school instead of being phobic of it. Psychiatrist Dr.Dayal Mirchandani says, “Tell your child that school is a fun place to be where she/ he will learn new things and make new friends. Compli...

  The Doves by Harriet McEwen Kimball   Pretty doves, so blithely ranging Up and down the street; Glossy throats all bright hues changing Little scarlet feet! Pretty doves! among the daisies They should coo and flit! All these toilsome, noisy places Seem for them unfit. Yet amidst our human plodding, They must love to be; With their little heads a-nodding, Busier than we. Close to hoof and wheel they hover, Glancing right and left, Sure some treasure to discover; Rapid, shy, and deft. Friendliest of feathered creatures, In their timid guise; Wisdom’s little silent teachers, Praying us be wise. Fluttering at footsteps careless, Danger swift to flee, Lowly, trusting, faithful, fearless,— Oh, that such were we! In the world and yet not of it, Ready to take wing,— By this lesson could we profit It were everything! #doves, #coo, #scarlet, #bird, #ornithology, #zoology, #wing, #feather, #daisy https://pixabay.com/photos...

  Mashi’s Covid vaccination is complete Mashi secured the second dosage of Covishield today. Her centre was Cardinal Gracias Hospital in Vasai West. The hospital had meticulously organized this vaccination. They had kept chairs outside for people who were to queue. Nobody was occupying the seats though as people had arrived as per the allocated time slot meted out to them online. The seating place had pot plants. Mashi arrived five minutes early and was allowed to go right into the vaccination room. The staff was very courteous. The nurse gave the vaccine very gently after which she relaxed on the sofa. I thanked the staff and said I would praise them online. #CardinalGraciasHospital, #Vasai, #Covid, #Covishield,   #vaccine, #thankyou, #gratitude, #injection, #hospital, #nurse